6 Newest Toilet Bowl Innovations

An integral element in any modern home, the porcelain throne is mankind’s gateway to health and happiness. While they may have started life as a functional necessity, the toilets of today blend together technology and clever design, integrating both to ensure only the smoothest of operations where bodily movements are concerned.

Beyond the basest requirements, modern toilets now incorporate a myriad of functionalities from sustainability and connectivity to hygiene, all aimed at making our daily routines more luxurious and efficient. The trends that pervade modern toilet culture are rooted in so much more than mere aesthetics; they reflect broader shifts in consumer preferences and requirements.

Today, the bathroom is a deeply personal space that proffers Zen and calm in a world often given to chaos. In leaning into man’s desire for a quiet place to unwind, designers and producers of water closets have brought to life creations worthy of both admiration and a place in any contemporary home.

Whether you’re a homeowner in search of a bathroom upgrade or are simply a connoisseur of finer things intrigued by the latest in home innovations, here are some fresh innovations to look forward to in the toilets of tomorrow.

1. Toilet Bowl Position

Among key elements that have informed bathroom design, the location designated to the toilet bowl requires utmost consideration.

The main concern to be addressed: its distance from other parts of the bathroom that require hygiene of the highest standards, from the sink and vanity to the towel rack and bathtub alike.

Because human waste is easily transferable via air, bathroom designers have made it a mission to maintain safe distances between the areas, whilst ensuring the highest levels of ease, accessibility, convenience, and functionality.

While water closets have long inhabited the 90s bathrooms of our youth and childhood, 2025 is all set to see a resurgence in their popularity. In essence, a water closet is a small room, built within bathrooms to partition off the throne upon which we perform the most sacred act of unloading.

While this may not necessarily be possible for the smaller bathrooms of today where square footage is at a premium, a partition proves a worthy investment that serves multiple purposes. Not only does it prevent the spread of unpleasant odours, preserving the sanctity of a Zen bathroom space, it also maintains comfort for users on the toilet, safely cocooning them away.

A designated water closet also ensures the bathroom as a whole remains usable while the toilet is occupied, thus improving functionality and efficiency particularly in family homes.

2. Toilet Bowl Bidet

Beyond the water closet, toilet design has also taken several incredible steps forward into the future, leveraging technology and engineering to proffer optimum comfort and ease for consumers.

Key among these advancements: the bidet, which has seen vast improvements in the early years following its implementation. The bidets of today provide a cleaner and more effective wash, with numerous water settings available to suit users’ needs.

Additionally, they also incorporate the use of warm water, effectively doing away with the unpleasant surprise that accompanies an unexpected gush of ice-cold water. With comfort on the mind, the most judicious of toilet designers have taken to fulfilling the needs of women.

Most notably, Grohe’s Sensia Arena incorporates a Lady Shower function which provides the utmost level of cleanliness and care. Thus negating the possibility of unsightly water spills from hose usage, it takes toilet aftercare one step further with a drying function, ensuring optimum comfort post-wash.

Beyond convenience, these functions also serve to ease the burdens of the less able, maintaining hygiene at the highest standards without requiring excessive exertion.

3. Toilet odour control

Chief among the concerns in bathroom hygiene, odour control plays a significant role in ensuring the hospitality and habitability of any space. That’s why designers and producers of sanitaryware have taken great pains to expand on odour control technology.

In meeting the requirement for automatic odour absorption, Grohe’s Sensia Arena incorporates
a ventilator that creates a shielding layer of air to prevent odours from rising, while a second ventilator extracts them to be cleaned via a carbon filter. Testament to just how vital odour control is for the bathrooms of today is just how many innovative solutions exist to address it.

Geberit’s DuoFresh module, which can be retrofitted with certain existing models of toilet bowls along with the Geberit Sigma concealed cistern, also removes unpleasant odours directly from ceramic toilets. However, it does so by extracting air through the flush pipe and valve, then purifies it through a ceramic honeycomb filter before releasing it back into the room.

4. Easy to clean toilet bowls

Yet another innovation that has taken the world of toilet bowls by storm, easy-to-clean and easy-to-maintain toilets have become the currency of the day.

From optimised flushing mechanics for the perfect cleanse to the design of the bowl itself, industry leaders of the sanitary ware sector have leveraged modern trends to present toilet units that are as comfortable to use as they are convenient to maintain.

Take for example the Geberit Acanto wall-hung toilet unit TurboFlush. Specially developed inner geometry guides the flow of water through the ceramic appliance, creating a powerful vortex that is highly efficient in expelling waste. The bowl itself is also rimless, ensuring easier cleanup that negates the need to scrub in between difficult- to-reach flush rims, doing away with mould, mildew, and bacteria buildup.

And that’s not all - the unit also incorporates a quick-release function for its seat and lid, which can be easily removed and clipped back in a single motion, allowing easy access for a thorough clean. Likewise, Grohe’s drive for optimum hygiene has also resulted in easier-to-maintain toilet units.

Incorporating an AquaCeramic coating, a rimless toilet design, and a powerful Triple Vortex flush, the brand also leverages the strength of a HyperClean glaze that reduces bacteria buildup by up to 99.9 percent. Furthermore, Plasmacluster technology also serves to remove bacteria through the release of positive and negative ions that render bacteria harmless upon contact. The toilet shower arms also feature exchangeable antibacterial spray nozzles which automatically clean themselves before and after use.

5. Smart toilet bowls

With the Internet of Things stoking the fire of progress in home appliances and beyond, it bears noting that bathroom fixtures have not been forgotten.

Indeed, toilet bowls today feature the same level of connectivity as one might expect from a kitchen range, with functions controllable via smartphone apps to make convenience and accessibility easier than ever before. Through these apps, users can save and select their personalised preferred settings for cleaning, lighting, flushing and beyond, ensuring a seamless experience that foretells a smooth future for personal toilet habits.

Beyond connectivity for ease of access, bathroom tech has also expanded into health monitoring, in line with growing interest in health tracking via wearables like watches and rings. Unveiled at the 2023 Consumer Electronics Show, health monitoring company Withings’ U-Scan device sits flush upon your toilet bowl, where it is able to test urine samples via chemical analysis within mere moments. The results are automatically transmitted via Wi-Fi, providing users with a more rounded breadth of knowledge insofar as their personal health is concerned.

For women, this means cycle predictions and ovulation windows based on hormonal detections. Additionally, the U-Scan also provides information on key hydration and dietary biomarkers, specific gravity and pH levels, metabolic intake, and more. While the U-Scan is not yet available to the general public, it has been subjected to an external pilot study in Europe as of December 2023.

Smart and connected

With an increasingly IoT-enabled world, smart appliances have found their places in our home, from kitchen to bedroom to bathroom alike. Where the toilet bowl is concerned, connectivity ensures comfort and convenience, offering prime control for users with limited mobility whilst simultaneously ensuring custom options for flushing, navigational lighting, bidet settings, and so on. Brands like Grohe and Kohler offer great options for smart toilets, enhancing life in the bathroom no matter your requirements.

6. Sleek toilet bowl designs

In spaces meant to facilitate relaxation, beauty is as important functionality. Enter AXOR, a luxury bathroom fixtures brand under the Hansgrohe group. Renowned for engaging top designers like Patricia Urquiola, Antonio Citterio, Philippe Starck, Nendo, Front, and more, AXOR proffers sleek products that make exquisite additions to any modern bathroom space. Likewise, Hansgrohe has garnered a reputation for creating toilets that are aesthetically rich and high in performance.

Convenience has long been the currency of clever design, and this proves particularly important in the bathroom. In meeting the needs of consumers, many toilet brands have begun producing rimless toilets for easy, effortless cleaning.

Among these brands, Geberit has emerged ahead of the curve with its design for rimless toilets, pairing it with a special HyperClean glaze for optimum cleanliness. effortless cleaning. Among these brands, Geberit has emerged ahead of the curve with its design for rimless toilets, pairing it with a special HyperClean glaze for optimum cleanliness.

7. Sustainable toilet bowls

Now that sustainability has entered the chat, more and more homeowners are looking to eco-friendly options - especially in the bathroom. From incorporating water-saving measures to low-impact production, toilet brands like Kohler and Duravit offer great choices for those hoping to make a positive impact on the environment.