Three new self-cleaning and smart public toilets have been installed in Brussels' city centre – bringing the total to 13 public toilets and 22 public urinals in the City of Brussels.
With fewer than five public toilets per 100,000 residents, Brussels was recently named the city with the dirtiest public toilets in Europe. The City of Brussels – the only one of Brussels' 19 municipalities with its own toilet plan – is making efforts to clean up its act.
"Public toilets make public spaces cleaner and more inclusive. They provide basic hygiene for everyone who uses our public spaces, and they discourage public urination," said Anas Ben Abdelmoumen (PS), the councillor for public cleanliness in the City of Brussels.
One completely new toilet was installed on Square Marguerite in the European quarter. The other two replaced outdated ones in the city centre: one on Place Anneessens and one on Square Marguerite Duras.
€150,000 per toilet
The installation of these toilets is a significant investment for the City of Brussels: a total of €450,000, or €150,000 per toilet.
"It is indeed a big cost, but if we do not want to be the European city with the dirtiest public toilets, we have to invest in modern toilets," Ben Abdelmoumen's cabinet told The Brussels Times.
The new toilet in the European quarter was largely financed through the participatory budget of that district, where residents had been asking for a public toilet for years.
All three installations are high-tech and offer "an exceptional level of hygiene and comfort," Ben Abdelmoumen stressed. The toilet flushes automatically after use, and the floor and walls are automatically cleaned and dried after each use; any waste is mechanically swept away.
Thanks to an advanced control system, incidents are immediately forwarded to the cleaning service, giving the toilets a "smart" character. The three new toilets are also very environmentally friendly, thanks to their low water consumption.
Inauguration of the public toilet on Square Marguerite. Credit: Anas Ben AbdelMoumen's office
The City's toilet policy is unique in the Brussels-Capital Region: it is the only municipality that manages public toilets itself. What's more, all of the City's public toilets are completely free of charge.
"Public toilets make public spaces cleaner and more inclusive. They offer basic hygiene to everyone who uses our public spaces and they discourage public urination," said Ben Abdelmoumen.
"The new ones we have purchased are the showpieces of public toilets, thanks to their advanced self-cleaning system and smart anti-vandalism system," he said. "We are therefore particularly proud of this investment, which is another important step towards a cleaner and more inclusive city."
In 2026 and 2027, the City of Brussels plans to install a completely new public toilet on Place Emile Bockstael in Laeken, and one at the Atomium.
