Adelaide’s worst public toilets under scrutiny for being filthy

They’re can be hard to find and when you do, you regret ever looking for them. Here’s what we found when we tested the cleanliness of Adelaide’s public amenities.

Vomit, faeces and needles are among the “disgusting” items regularly found in Adelaide’s public toilets, as city residents complain about the hygiene and cleanliness of CBD loos.

Three of six toilets, examined by the Sunday Mail on Friday, also tested positive for contact with cocaine.

Whitmore Square’s toilet between Morphett St and Sturt St were among six loos that received serious complaints in an Adelaide City Council facilities survey.

Hygiene and cleanliness were the gripes of most survey participants, but access to facilities was another issue raised.

The Sunday Mail inspected public toilets at Hindmarsh, Whitmore and Victoria Squares, the Adelaide Central Market, Topham Mall and the Glover Playspace in North Adelaide on Friday, finding that three of the six toilets tested positive for contact with cocaine.

The three that did not – Hindmarsh, Whitmore and Victoria Square – were left in “disgusting” states.

Hindmarsh Square public toilet on Thursday afternoon, April 3. Picture: Brett Hartwig

Hindmarsh Square: Parts of the toilet's skirting had been ripped from the wall while toilet paper was flung everyone, topped off by someone's pants sitting in the sink on Friday morning. Picture: Sam Lowe

The Sunday Mail spoke to concerned locals who said they tried to avoid using public toilets, as they often walked into loos that had “vomit, faeces and needles” across the floor.

Kate Dansie, 58, said more often than not, she was forced to use toilets in restaurants and shops given the state of the city’s public facilities.

“They’re filthy, they’re hard to find, there’s not enough signage and simply not enough of them,” Ms Dansie said.

Kate Dansie at the Hindmarsh Square public toilet on Pulteney St on Thursday, April 3. Picture: Brett Hartwig

“I went into one that was absolutely filthy, filled with vomit, faeces and needles.

“(Hindmarsh Square) toilet just stinks, it just stinks of urine and it’s just not cleaned enough.

“But if you’ve got to go, you’ve got to go.”

Working in the city, Paneetta Singh will on occasion leave the office for a lunch break, but no matter how desperate she may be, she’ll never use a public toilet.

“I just avoid them,” she said.

“They need sanitation.”

Paneetta Singh avoids public toilets in Adelaide at all costs. Picture: Brett Hartwig

A condom on the floor, as well as rubbish in the sink and receipts were on the floor of the Whitmore Square toilet.

An Adelaide university student, Zack Williams, said he “wouldn’t sit down on” any of the Victoria Square toilets.

One of the responses to the council’s facilities survey said it was “crucial” that the city’s public toilets were properly maintained.

“So many public rest rooms around town are just downright disgusting,” the respondent said.

A council spokesman said toilet facilities across the CBD, from traditional blocks to automated units, were cleaned and restocked daily.

“While these toilet facilities are cleaned daily to maintain a clean and accessible experience for all users, they are not monitored and cleaned all through the day,” he said.

The spokesman said the Central Market toilets were managed by the Adelaide Central Market Authority.

The council spokesman said they were “naturally disappointed” to hear evidence of cocaine use in some city toilets.

“We ask that anyone who suspects illegal activity within public toilets to report it to police,” he said.

Whitmore Square

Cigarette smoke wafted from atop the toilet roll holder, which had been used by one patron as an ashtray.

But the worst Whitmore Square had to offer was a used condom on the floor, and caps from the tops of needles.

The smell was one that burns into your nostrils, one that you can smell on and around you for quite some time.

Victoria Square

Stifling a gag wasn’t an option here, the smell reaching new heights in just how disgusting it was.

A stale stench of faeces and urine just sat in the air while cigarette ash, empty iced coffee bottles and other rubbish littered the floor and sink surfaces.

Adelaide university student Zack Williams said he “wouldn’t sit down on” any of the Victoria Square toilets if he had to, and it’d be hard to blame him.

Hindmarsh Square

Not nearly as pungent as others, Hindmarsh Square still had a particularly unpleasant smell, but it was the state of the rest of the small toilet that made it unusable.

A pair of pants sitting in the little sink alcove, what could only be described as — hopefully — toilet paper was strewn across the ground with a bright yellow paint splattered across almost everything.

The fact part of the skirting had been ripped from the wall was a particularly scary thought — just what were people using these toilets for?

Central Market

The Adelaide Central Market was the cleanest of the six toilets, minus an empty wine bottle beneath the toilet cistern.

It was an unseen filth that shocked the most, as a bright blue bled into the pink swab, indicating a positive test result for cocaine.

Perhaps someone has taken their grocery shopping to a new level.

Glover Playspace

Looking on the surface the toilet was perfectly average; until you notice the bugs.

Not just the typical daddy-long-legs you find around the place, but crickets, little beetles, other particularly unpleasant arachnids.

That and the fact there was but one cubicle made the toilet feel more like a bugged up prison sell than much else.

Whitmore Square public toilet reeked of cigarette smoke and was littered with rubbish on Friday.

Urine covered the floor of Topham Mall's accessible men's toilet, leaving a terrible smell.

Topham Mall

There was not too much wrong with these toilets in the grand scheme, but they just felt grim when walking in.

Some rubbish was tucked into a corner of one cubicle, while there was a small layer of urine — which did not smell great — in the other.

But these are problems that plague most public toilets.

Originally published as Adelaide’s worst public toilets under scrutiny for being filthy