Loo review No. 2: Here’s the status of Philly’s new public bathrooms after six weeks

When I first reviewed Philadelphia’s new stand-alone public restroom — the Philly Phlush — I made it my sworn duty to return in six weeks, and again in six months, to provide status updates on the pilot potty project.

I heard from many who poo-pooed the bathrooms and were certain they wouldn’t make it 24 hours in this city and others, like me, who wanted to be optimistic about something Philly needs so much.

On Monday, six weeks after my initial review, I visited the Phlushes currently in operation — one at 15th and Arch Streets in Center City and another at Fotterall Square Park in North Philly. I used both without fear, trepidation, or a hazmat suit. I’m happy to report that things have not gone down the toilet.

Far from being city dumps, the bathrooms remain clean and everything appears to be on a roll. Both were functioning and those I spoke to were grateful for their presence.

“It’s so nice and convenient. It’s always clean and it stays clean,” Samuel Lawrence, 58, of North Philly, said of the Phlush at Fotterall Square Park.

Keeping the bathrooms clean, stocked, and functioning is the job of three “public restroom specialists” with the Philadelphia Department of Public Health’s Substance Use Prevention and Harm Reduction division. They visit the bathrooms every two hours.

As I was checking out the Phlush at Fotterall Square, I ran into one of those specialists. While he declined to give his name because he wasn’t sure if he was allowed to speak with me, he couldn’t have been nicer or more genuine. Far from being wiped out, he was tankful for the work.

“Honestly, I’m just so grateful to have a job,” he said. “And I love meeting people from all over.”

He said community members near Fotterall Square have been kind and supportive, and at the Center City Phlush, he’s met tourists from Ohio to California who are appreciative of the bathroom and his service.

“A lot of people are excited,” he said.

The specialist said he hasn’t witnessed any major incidents and wasn’t aware of anyone locking themselves in a unit, though “some do take longer than others.”

“Some days are crappier than others too, pun intended,” he said. “But it’s an experience, one I’m glad I’m getting to experience.”

James Garrow, Health Department spokesperson, said there have only been four service calls to both bathrooms and those were to restock naloxone and toilet paper (in July alone, the city went through 259 rolls). The only criminal incident reported so far was for graffiti at the Center City location, but the bathrooms have a graffiti-resistant finish so it was easily cleaned off, he said.

While the cement floors and toilet seats at both sites are clean, they do look a little worse for wear. The diaper-changing table at the Fotterall Square bathroom is already taped up and covered with a “BROKEN” sign and the menstrual-products machine was empty. The toilet paper, seat covers, hand sanitizer, and naloxone were fully stocked.

My biggest complaint with the North Philly Phlush was the water pressure. It took three flushes to get the toilet to drain a simple number one. The pressure in the sink on the exterior of the facility was so low that it didn’t stream down, it trickled back, making it nearly impossible to wash your hands.

At the Center City location, the water pressure was solid and everything was stocked. But someone had taken about a dozen toilet seat covers and spread them over the ground like avant-garde carpeting and someone had put a cigarette butt in the basin of the sink like a total jabroni.

For Darrin Curtiss, 37, who was visiting from Lawrence, Kan., the bathroom was a welcome sight. He had bicycled over the Benjamin Franklin Bridge that day, and was able to fit his bike into the large, ADA-compliant restroom.

“Oh man, I love it!” he said. “They need a lot of these all over America because nobody lets you use their bathrooms anymore.”

The bathrooms are part of a five-year, six-unit pilot project with an annual budget of $656,864. The next one is slated for West Philly’s Clark Park, but an installation date hasn’t been set. Garrow said the city hopes to have it up and running by the end of the year. Locations for the other three units haven’t been chosen, he said.

Now, it’s time for a mea culpa. When I reviewed the Phlush last month, I called it Center City’s first public restroom, but an astute reader wrote to tell me that wasn’t accurate. In January 2007, just before I came to Philly, the city installed a self-cleaning, 25-cents-per-use toilet that played music on the north apron of City Hall.

According to Inquirer and Daily News reports from the time, there were plans to install 35 more across Philly, at no cost to the city because the winning bidder would also install hundreds of new bus shelters, newsstands, trash cans, and kiosks and own advertising rights on them for 20 years.

Obviously, that project got clogged up and never happened.

Garrow said nobody on the current project is familiar with what happened back then or why those bathrooms never came to fruition.

Digging deeper into our archives, I learned public bathroom prototypes (for viewing only) were displayed outside City Hall in 1993 and 1996, but deals were never brokered, due in part to concerns about street advertising.

The current units have no street advertising, so I hope, unlike these prior projects, they won’t trickle out and fade away. I’ll keep my aim on these toilets, and let you know where they stand when we reach the six-month mark in January.

Finally, I asked Garrow the following burning questions from readers, which were sent to me after my first review.

Yes, it’s connected to the sewer system.

No. They are designed to see floor level and ceiling level. The slats are angled in order to prevent a direct sight line into the unit.

The city is still investigating additional sites and no more decisions have been made yet.

The Narcan that is stocked in the Phlushes is in its original box, which provides step-by-step instructions with illustrations.

It’s a standard flush with a bit more power than a regular residential toilet.