Urine deflector

Potty with urine deflector at left

Equipment used for toilet training such as a potty chair will typically include a urine deflector to ensure that the urine does not splash forward and outside the receptacle.[1]

An example of a urine deflector

Urine Deflectors that fit onto toilet seats help prevent urine from seeping from under the toilet seat.

Military latrines often contain urine deflectors made from sheet metal or tar paper. These would catch and direct the urine into a trough which would carry it to a separate drainage pit. This would minimise the unpleasant smell which typically results from decomposition and production of ammonia[2] and, by keeping the feces drier, allow use of soil to control odors and flies in the main pit. This can also allow incineration. Other designs of latrine typically include similar urine deflectors to prevent degradation of the wooden components and the walls of the pit.[3]

Urine-diverting dry toilets use similar arrangements.

Such devices were reported as common in the streets of London in the 19th century.[4] A correspondent to The Farmer's Magazine wrote in 1809,[5]

... in London a man may sometimes walk a mile before he can meet with a suitable corner; for so unaccommodating are the owners of door-ways; passages and angles, that they seem to have exhausted invention in the ridiculous barricadoes and shelves, grooved, and one fixed above another, to conduct the stream into the shoes of the luckless wight who shall dare to profane the intrenchments.

Accurate historical identification of such features is generally more speculative than certain,[6] but potential historical devices have been identified in places such as the Bank of England and Clifford’s Inn Passage.[7][8][9] In other cities such as Vienna, barriers such as iron railings and spikes may have been used to keep people away from attractive corners and crannies.[7][10]

German cities such as Hamburg and Cologne have pioneered the use of hydrophobic paint on walls to deter Wildpinklers. This water-repellent coating causes the stream to rebound at a similar angle and so wet the offender. Other places such as Hackney, Manchester and San Francisco have since evaluated the method for particular trouble spots.[11][12]

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  This feature is located in Lothbury, at the Bank of England. Its purpose is not verifiable, but one source identifies it as a urine deflector.[7] The building exterior has no other similar features.
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  Clifford's Inn Passage
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  in the Coach and Horses Passage in Newark-on-Trent
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  Jacob's Ladder in Ramsgate has features in the corners of each landing which one source identifies as urine deflectors.[13]