> I've also heard they fill urinals with ice? But pretty sure that can't be true, that's just too strange and wasteful.
It IS true, but only really occurs in a specific context: old buildings with large icemaking capacity and trough-style urinals that are only plumbed into the sewer (i.e. no water flush capability.)
It's basically optimization for a very specific local minima of "I have to run my icemaker anyway, which always has a surplus of ice at the beginning of the day, and it would cost $XXXXX to change my urinals because it would require me to bring the toilets up to code - and my customers are going to complain about losing the atmosphere..."'
Admittedly, I've also occasionally seen this in places trying to fake an "old roadhouse" vibe, but those places don't tend to last. Not because they're bankrupted by the cost of ice, but because of a deeper inherent wackness.
It IS true, but only really occurs in a specific context: old buildings with large icemaking capacity and trough-style urinals that are only plumbed into the sewer (i.e. no water flush capability.)
It's basically optimization for a very specific local minima of "I have to run my icemaker anyway, which always has a surplus of ice at the beginning of the day, and it would cost $XXXXX to change my urinals because it would require me to bring the toilets up to code - and my customers are going to complain about losing the atmosphere..."'
Admittedly, I've also occasionally seen this in places trying to fake an "old roadhouse" vibe, but those places don't tend to last. Not because they're bankrupted by the cost of ice, but because of a deeper inherent wackness.