{"id":42148,"date":"2026-08-26T22:35:49","date_gmt":"2026-08-26T22:35:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new50.info\/?p=42148"},"modified":"2026-08-26T22:35:49","modified_gmt":"2026-08-26T22:35:49","slug":"the-unusual-toilet-design-that-often-surprises-travelers-and-the-practical-reason-behind-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new50.info\/?p=42148","title":{"rendered":"The Unusual Toilet Design That Often Surprises Travelers \u2014 And the Practical Reason Behind It"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"PDq2pG_selectionAnchorContainer\" data-start=\"106\" data-end=\"334\">In some parts of Europe, older toilets have a flat platform or \u201cshelf\u201d instead of allowing waste to fall directly into water. This unusual design once had a practical health-related purp&#8230;<strong>Continue Reading<\/strong><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"336\" data-end=\"611\">The shelf made it easier for people to inspect stool for signs such as blood, parasites, unusual colors, or other changes. Before modern medical testing became widely available, these observations could provide useful clues about health.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"613\" data-end=\"843\">As plumbing and hygiene standards improved, toilet designs gradually changed. Newer models became more popular because they reduced odors, were easier to clean, and removed waste more quickly.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"845\" data-end=\"1120\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\">Although shelf toilets are less common today, they can still be found in some older European homes and buildings. What may seem strange to travelers today was once a practical design shaped by the medical knowledge and needs of its time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In some parts of Europe, older toilets have a flat platform or \u201cshelf\u201d instead of allowing waste to fall directly into water.\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":42149,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Unusual Toilet Design That Often Surprises Travelers \u2014 And the Practical Reason Behind It - New50<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/new50.info\/?p=42148\" \/>\n<link rel=\"next\" href=\"https:\/\/new50.info\/?p=42148&page=2\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Unusual Toilet Design That Often Surprises Travelers \u2014 And the Practical Reason Behind It - 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