With the accelerating pace of urbanization in China, the intelligentization of urban public facilities has become a key hallmark of smart city development. As modern public spaces, public restrooms with clean surroundings and fresh air inside have emerged as essential indicators of urban civilization in contemporary cities.
The management of urban public toilets often faces numerous challenges:
- The management of basic data for public restrooms involves a substantial workload and suffers from low efficiency.
- The dirty, messy, and poor condition of public restrooms affects residents’ use.
- The number, specifications, and facilities of public restrooms are outdated and substandard.
- The response time for the issue is delayed.
- Citizens’ participation in regulatory oversight is insufficient.
Therefore, to comprehensively enhance the management level of public restrooms and establish a long-term management mechanism, intelligent public restrooms are being developed to support the construction of modern new cities and smart cities. These systems enable intelligent remote management including restroom occupancy monitoring, odor detection, toilet usage flow measurement, squatting space identification, and automatic deodorization. By adopting advanced technologies such as the Internet of Things and cloud computing, integrated management of public restroom sanitation with smart technologies has been achieved. Intelligent public restrooms not only eliminate unpleasant odors but also provide scientific and effective management approaches for restroom hygiene, making urban restroom sanitation management more intelligent and orderly.
The odor components that require monitoring in smart public restrooms primarily include the following:
1. Ammonia (NH₃) – Urea odor
A colorless gas with a strongly irritating smell. The primary hazards to human health include: pungent sensations in the eyes, nose, and throat; tearing; coughing; sneezing; expectoration; hemoptysis; chest tightness; headache; dizziness; fatigue; and in severe cases, pulmonary edema, cerebral edema, laryngeal edema, laryngospasm, or asphyxia.
2. Hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) – Rotten egg odor
A colorless, toxic acidic gas. At low concentrations, it exhibits a distinctive rotten egg odor. It is a potent neurotoxin with strong irritant effects on mucous membranes. Low concentrations of hydrogen sulfide can adversely affect the eyes, respiratory system, and nervous system. Inhalation of small amounts of high-concentration hydrogen sulfide may be fatal within a short period.
