Daily Hive: “These Lower Mainland washrooms have a special ability”

In January 2026, Vancouver outlet Daily Hive took a look at the public washrooms popping up around the Lower Mainland. The headline calls it a special ability. We won’t argue.

The special ability in question: 45 seconds.

That’s how long an Urben Blu unit takes to wash itself from top to bottom between visitors. Nobody walks in with a bucket, nobody tapes the door shut for the afternoon. For a municipality, that adds up to as much as $25,000 in maintenance saved per unit, per year.

Daily Hive notes the message is landing in the Lower Mainland: Burnaby, Port Moody and Abbotsford have all ordered units. Abbotsford bought several within six months — the kind of second date we like.

The article also points out that Vancouver is still looking for its answer.

Not bad for a company that started in Boisbriand in 2010, some 4,500 km away.

Read the story on dailyhive.com → https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/lower-mainland-washrooms-special-ability