San Francisco covers walls in liquid-repellent paint to fight back against public urination

It's never been more important to wait till you get home

The paint repels liquids, meaning people who urinate against walls will have their pee bounce back (YouTube)

The city of San Francisco is trialling a new idea to tackle the issue of public urination on its streets: pee-repellent paint.

The paint, called “Ultra-Ever Dry”, repels water, some oils and wet concrete due to the nanotechnology used by company Ultra Tech to create it.

In short, when a person urinates against a wall, the urine bounces back.

The city’s Public Works agency has begun piloting a project that has seen nine of its usually urine-soaked walls covered in the paint. It is being carried out with the hope that it will deter people from urinating so freely at many of San Francisco’s “hot spots”.

Public Works director Mohammed Nuru told the San Francisco Chronicle that he believes the pilot will work due to the successful results obtained in Germany, where it was first used.

“Based on Hamburg, we know this pilot program is going to work,” he said.

“It will reduce the number of people using the walls. I really think it will deter them,” he added.