Toilets in Italy are superior to those in the USA ... so are the A highways

You should see how they build curved bridges over very, very deep crevices. And there are actually too many controlled access roads in Germany. These are products of incredibly expensive gasoline taxes.
But have you notice how their roads don't go directly from city to city? Their roads usually go fromoutside of cities to outside of other cities.
But those great toilets use far more water than 1.28 liters--like used in the U.S.

Italians don't go over mountains, they go through them.

Italian companies are world leaders in tunneling and related services. It was an Italian company that engineered many of the slurry walls for Boston's Big Dig.

The autostrada roads are now entirely paved with fast draining pavement that minimizes spray and surface water. It's much better especially with truck traffic. US interstates in my area haven't even started using it.

Well. Some toilets in Italy are better than the U.S. I've encountered pit toilets, toilets without seats (very common) and most without toilet paper. So it depends if you are talking the toilet in your hotel room or a public one...and how far south in Italy you are. lol

I do agree that most of the roads in Italy are much better than the U.S. With the exception of a few roads we encountered in Naples they were very well maintained.

I don't know about the roads since I always take trains. Those are better than here! But toilets, no way. Too many with no seats.

Power flushing and hotel cleanliness of Italian loos aside, "superior" is definitely not how I'd rank them!

don't know about American toilets as I have never visited by had to laugh at the Italian toilets being superior,in my experience if you get a toilet seat you are lucky and if there is a lock on the door that's a real bonus.Don't even think about expecting toilet paper.

I never saw that world. My experience is much closer to Uncle Gus's.

Could we have your wife weigh in on this? Maybe this differs by gender...in my experience, this isn't true (and even in nice hotel rooms, especially in Sicily)

I don't know about public toilets. In all sincerity, except for public toilets at airports, all other public restrooms are often in disrepair.
If you are talking about toilets in Italian homes, then it's another story. In any case even those vary a lot. The new generation toilets are better, but the old generation toilets were also gravity fed and often the tank was at ceiling level to increase force. One feature I like in American toilets is that the water stops at a higher level and fills half toilet instead of just the bottom. That makes cleaning easier. Of course there are now many types of new gen toilets that go into new houses. One thing that I surely miss is the bidet. I installed electronic washlet seats in my toilets at home in the US (no space for the traditional bidet sink), but I still miss the real bidet. Also it's a habit or us Italians to wash our feet before going to bed, and having to use the shower every night is a pain, especially with the extortionary water rates we have in Cal due to the drought.

I agree that for the motorways there is no contest. For the regular highways however it would be nice if Italians built some turnouts and passing lanes once in a while. Also they are narrow and with no shoulder.

Having lots of companies that are world leaders in tunneling and viaducts is a double blade sword. I wonder how many bribes are paid to public works officials to ensure the design requires a lot of tunneling and viaduct instead of choosing a cheaper path that requires neither. Sometimes I feel Italian autostrade purposely go through hills just to have an excuse to build yet another tunnel, when in fact they could have just as easily curved around and taken a flatter path. I know that going straight saves miles, but do you know how much tunnels and viaducts cost to build?

Power flushing there may be, but the absence of seating is not a great design. And there's something wrong in a design that requires a toilet brush be available in every freaking stall.... I'll take American plumbing any day, but I live here anyway. The food is better. :-)

I found public Italian restrooms cleaner than US ones. I'm very willing to pay for a clean toilet area, wish I could do that here. Most public restrooms in the US are disgusting, at least from this woman's angle. On the side, who sits on a general use public toilet? Never would dream of it...I guess, unless I was horribly sick, but that might have been one of those things my mother taught me that I will continue to pass along. I always thought those seats were just meant to be lifted out of the way. LOL.

I'm remembering the WC at the train station in Vernazza.

What do you mean by toilets designed without seats? Italian toilets have seats too, at least in private homes and hotels. If public toilets at stations and such don't have them it's because they were vandalized and the restroom owner decided not to install new ones to avoid being vandalized again. But if you go to any Italian home there will be toilet seats.
Laurel: don't you have a toilet seat at your home in Rome? They are cheap. I just installed a new one at my mom's house this summer. They aren't any different than the toilet seats in America.

I've often wondered what others thought of our dry wiping here in the US. As a little kid I didn't like it myself although I knew nothing else.

So I devised a simple wet wipe technique where I add a drop of liquid soap and a drop of hand sanitizer to 1/4 paper towel or a little clump of TP. In public toilets, I do this before I close the stall door. Or I've had to dress and leave the stall to make my wet wipe at the sink and then return to the stall.

I've done this for decades and love it. Absent a bidet and washlet, it's the best Wet wipe I can do.

Italian engineering has a excellent worldwide reputation. The two things that destroy roads are heavy trucks and freezing weather.

Sandra
There is another technique you can use in lieu of bidets in public restrooms. Fill a small plastic drinking bottle with water. Best are those with a spout so you can squeeze the bottle and have a nice squirt. Bring with you to the stall and use. If you don't want other people to know what you were doing with the bottle inside the stall, when you exit the stall simply start drinking out of the bottle. They'll think it was your drink. My wife thinks that is gross, but I talked to my dog and he suggested to fill the bottle with water from the toilet bowl. He thinks it's way better than San Pellegrino.

Spits coffee all over keyboard
I haven't laughed that hard all week.

Next time I need advice I will ask Roberto to put his dog at the keyboard. Such a clever pooch.

I was referring to toilets in hotels, apartments, local homes. Public? well that is a different story just like in the USA ... nasty places.

Ah, Jim, thanks for the clarification. Public bathrooms with seatless toilets, cold water only, wimpy hand dryers: Ugh!

Roberto, of course we have all the comforts at home. :-) I still think the bowl design is ridiculous, though.

Traveled in Italy and other parts of Europe this fall and after a few times of paying for a toilet I came to appreciate the safely and cleanliness they provided. Especially in train stations.

Like Dave, I am also remembering the wc in Vernazza!

Just to name a couple,American Standard and Kohler have been making power flush toilets for 20 years,it is a matter of how much you want to spend or the hotels that you stay in here in the US.I do agree that driving on the Auto Strada from Rome to Milan is great.
Mike

Yes I enjoyed driving in Italy (Tuscany & Major highways). But I hated those automated speed traps. I still have another 8 months to see if I got any speeding tickets.

If you like Italian toilet then you'll LOVE Japanese toilets.

American toilets are the greatest!

Italian train toilets, along with the rest of Europe, except for the very high speed trains, dump all waste directly onto the tracks. That is why there are signs posted "do not use toilets while train is parked"
You would be in court for eternity if you did that here.

Wayne, don't be so sure.

really Wayne? I've not seen crap on the tracks at any station I was at.

I just wanted to congratulate everyone for discussing this new and enlightening topic with such dignity and taste and humor and waste. I read every entry. Thank you.

Thirty posts on Italian toilets. Need I say more.

Italian train toilets, along with the rest of Europe, except for the
very high speed trains, dump all waste directly onto the tracks. That
is why there are signs posted "do not use toilets while train is
parked.

Haha, Wayne! How many of you learned this ditty when you were kids?
(sung to the tune of "Humoresque")

"Passengers will please refrain
from flushing toilets while the train
Is in the station.
Darling, I love you.
We encourage constipation
While the train is in the station.
Moonlight always makes me think of you."

I agree with par.pas75, I would rather pay for a toilet (participating vendors for some "toilet chains" have 50%-off coupons, can't believe I am writing this) that's clean rather than take my chances at most public toilets in the US.

Yes this is true. My wife first brought to my attention after returning from the train toilet, commenting she could see the railroad ties & ground below as she flushed. I did not believe her (something she says is typical of me) & went to see for myself. I had to apologize for doubting her, again.

I could not believe my eyes the first time I took a train in England using the facilities , tracks below me " whizzing " past. Then when you go sit down in the rail car you see houses / back yards where people live next to the tracks.

on this Thanksgiving, I am thankful for this thread and the fact that I just died laughing. there should be a forum dedicated to worldwide bathroom info!

Not a forum but there's an app for that!

http://www.climatedesign.com/top-5-toilet-apps/

a surprisingly interesting book on the subject ( and addressing who makes the best toilets in the world) is this book: The Big Necessity: The Unmentionable World of Human Waste and Why It Matters

by Rose George

don't think I'll find that in my local library

Our experience was that there are SOME toilets in Italy that were NOT so great. The ones that were simply somewhat like a porcelain shower stall, with ridged, raised areas for one feet and a simple hole - no seat to sit upon, just a place to squat. Mind you, these were not common, but my wife was definitely not a fan.

And, once you got off those A highways, things got decidedly more narrow and winding! But I loved it all.

How is squatting over a porcelain-surrounded hole in the floor any different from squatting over a porcelain toilet with the lid raised? All this toilet talk reminds me of the story of the little girl at a family picnic who saw a little boy peeing up against a tree and remarked, "That's a handy thing to have along at a picnic"

what I didn't get in Italy was why some places had no seat. Don't think a black market for used toilet seats would be very profitable.

Well, I've spent enough time in the woods to know what to do with (less than) a squat toilet! :O)

Kathy that makes you appreciate inside plumbing while growing up .. I wonder if our family hidey spot is still there after 50 + years ? My parents always stopped at the same place coming and going from Va. to NC to of course to visit grandma's. The woods are very clean compared to some gas stations , " no fast food stops " to be found . Mom would always tell us to look out for snakes.. not the friendly type either !

European (including Italian) toilets in general flush better than American toilets. American toilets in general use siphonic flushing technology, using not only gravity but also 'suction' from the siphon to pull everything through. European toilets mainly use washdown style toilets. These toilets have less water in the bowls, making it more difficult to 'aim' and leaving more skid marks. Their trapway is twice the diameter of siphonic toilets and the force of the dropping water is enough to push everything through. They seldom clog.
Washdown toilets aren't very scary for Americans in general. German toilets are. Google images: "flachspüler" :D

source: https://toiletvision.com/

there ya go ...definitive answer