The Mayor of New York City, Zohran Mamdani, has decided to add a bidet spray to the bathroom of Gracie Mansion, his new official residence, which dates back centuries.
Upon moving into the residence with his wife, the mayor explained that the first changes he intends to make to the Manhattan property, built in 1799, include installing several bidet sprays in the mansion’s bathrooms.
What is the problem?
It remains unclear how the city will install bidet toilets at the mayor’s residence, given the difficulty of upgrading historic buildings. The structure was not originally designed to accommodate bidets. However, a number of companies now offer solutions such as bidet attachments compatible with older toilets, or handheld bidet sprays installed alongside existing toilets.
What did they say?
Mamdani said that installing bidets in the mansion is an ambitious hope, and that they will see how the task can be accomplished.
New York City’s Department of Environmental Protection stated that bidet toilets mean fewer paper towels and wipes, which is a positive outcome given the ongoing problems related to waste disposal.
The American sanitation authorities said that disposing of wet wipes, regardless of type, in toilets represents a major challenge.
They added that millions of dollars are spent annually to address sewer blockages and problems caused by paper products.
Why do Americans not use bidets?
Bidets are common almost everywhere except North America. According to the website Scientific American, Americans use more than 36.5 billion rolls of toilet paper every year.
In challenging the idea that bidets waste more water than toilet paper, the website quotes Justin Thomas as saying that American toilet paper consumption, in addition to destroying millions of trees, wastes billions of gallons of water in production, thousands of tonnes of chlorine for bleaching, and large amounts of electricity and resources for packaging, transport, and sale. All of this, he argues, does not compare to the water consumed by bidets.
Manufacturing a single two ply roll of toilet paper consumes about 1.5 pounds of wood and 37 gallons of water. A bidet, by contrast, uses only about one gallon of water per use.
However, waste is not the only argument Americans rely on to avoid using bidets. What are the other reasons?
Morality first, cleanliness later
Americans did not become familiar with bidets until US soldiers went to France during the Second World War, where they encountered them for the first time in French brothels. As a result, bidets became associated in their minds with what they viewed as moral decadence, even though bidets were also present in French hotels. Marie Antoinette herself reportedly had a bidet in her cell before her execution.
Bidets and tight spaces do not mix
When modern American homes began to spread, bathrooms were designed to be compact and functional. Adding a separate bidet alongside the toilet required extra space and additional plumbing. Property developers saw no need for extra space or features that were culturally unwelcome.
Money before water
The dominance of toilet paper was strong enough to convince the American consumer that it was the healthiest method, and a symbol of refinement, cleanliness, and modernity. It eventually became a massive industry generating billions of dollars.
