THE days of women queuing twice as long as men to go to the loo may finally be over.
A pair of pee pioneers have invented the UK’s first urinal for women – and they say it’s six times faster to use than traditional portable bogs.
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Amber Probyn and Hazel McShane, aged 23 and 25, designed the hands-free Peequal while studying at Bristol University.
They cooked up the idea as a way to slash waiting times for women because they were fed up with the long lines at festival toilets.
After trialling the potties at a comedy festival last summer, the duo has raised £250,000 from investors and is due to sign with several major festivals for 2022.
Hazel said: “This funding is not only a huge vote of confidence in Peequal but also a big moment for pee equality the world over.
“We want Peequal to empower women to take back their time and break the taboo around female urination.”
The Peequal has a boat-shaped basin that you squat over with a foot on either side.
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There are bars to steady yourself, and the shape is designed to minimise splashback. Like traditional portable loos, there is no flush.
There is also no door, with the user’s head and chest poking out of the top so those in the queue can see which stalls are free.
After closing its first round of funding, Peequal is set to become a common sight at British festivals and events, with 250 units under construction.
Several deals are being penned with major festival operators in the coming weeks, according to the company.
Renting a modular, flat-packed six-person unit will cost roughly £650 a week.
Investors in the project include the British Design Fund, Monzo co-founder Tom Blomfield and former Gü exec Sarah Jones.
Speaking to BBC News last year, Amber said that the “age-old problem” of toilet queues was “wasting hours of women’s lives”.
“We realise this is a shift in behaviour but it’s a more efficient way of doing things,” she said.
“At the start of the day, you might look at this woman’s urinal and be like ‘I’m not sure about that’ but after a few bevs, and after you’ve waited in the queue for 15 minutes already – this option suddenly becomes much more appealing.”
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In other news, a four-tonne chunk of a SpaceX rocket is on a collision course with the Moon, according to online space junk trackers.
Boeing has sunk $450million into a flying taxi startup that hopes to whisk passengers across cities by the end of the decade.
Personalised smart guns, which can be fired only by verified users, may finally become available to U.S. consumers this year.
And, scientists are embarking on a mission to unravel the mystery behind dozens of grisly child mummies buried in an underground tomb in Sicily.
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This post first appeared on Thesun.co.uk
