Philadelphia Will Start Using Urine-Repelling Paint

City is fighting back against public urination
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Sep 16, 2016 4:17 PM CDT
Philadelphia Will Start Using Urine-Repelling Paint
FILE – In this July 30, 2015, photo, a sign above a wall covered with repellent paint asks people to "Hold it!" outside a Mission District transit station in San Francisco. In the fall of 2016, Philadelphia's main transit agency, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, plans to test...   (Eric Risberg)

The city's main transit agency plans to try urine-repelling paint to combat smells and complaints about cleanliness, the AP reports. The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority will run a trial this fall of a product called Ultra-Ever Dry, a surface coating that makes urine spray back on the offender. SEPTA spokesman Andrew Busch said complaints are common for any large transit system. SEPTA's maintenance crews are always looking for new ways to tackle cleanup issues aside from their regular cleaning routines, he said. The coating has been used in public spaces in San Francisco and Hamburg, Germany.

"From what we've understood, it seems like there's been some success (with the coating) so we are certainly willing to give this a try," Busch said. San Francisco's public works department used the clear, liquid repellent on some of its city walls to fight a chronic public urination problem. A light pole corroded by urine fell on a car in San Francisco last year. Public urination in Philadelphia, as in San Francisco, is illegal. The offense carries a $300 fine. SEPTA officials haven't decided whether they'll coat elevators, which San Francisco's Bay Area Rapid Transit agency did to 80 elevators last month, or try the repellent on walkways or walls. (More strange stuff stories.)

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