Sneak a peek at loo-tech future

The average person goes to the toilet 2,500 times a year, but few spend time contemplating how the bathroom affects their quality of living.

Thanks to the Hong Kong Toilet Association, Hongkongers will have the chance to find out everything they ever wanted to know about bathrooms at an expo dedicated to the loo.

Slated to be held in Kowloon Tong, the exhibition in November will offer in-depth seminars, as well as displays showcasing toilets of the future.

'The theme is going to be: offering Hong Kong a better quality of life. There will cutting-edge technology for automated seat covers, soaps that improve skin quality and waterless toilets that eliminate odours and germs,' said association president Michael Siu Kin-wai.

'There are even door handles that detect whether you have washed your hands. A local company has come up a device that can detect the germ count on your hands. If you are over the limit, it will issue a verbal reminder for you to wash your hands.'

Another gadget awaiting confirmation for showing is the extendable sink. With the ability to adjust its height according to each user, the device is expected to become a hit with children and the elderly.

Admission to the two-day expo financed by the toilet trade and the association will be free.

'A good toilet is so much more than just a clean toilet. It is about how comfortable it makes you feel - from the flow of air, to the emotion it invokes,' said association vice-president Lo Wing-lok.

'People who visit the expo should be able to bring something home with them too. We promise there will be more on sale than rolls of toilet paper.'

In the run-up to the expo, in June the association is resurrecting the Clean Public Toilets Casting Awards - an event devised by 'Dr Toilet' Ronald Leung Ding-bong in 1998. Details of the award - for which the public will be asked to vote for their favourite public loo - will be announced later.