It seems like the bathrooms here are all a result of the lack of resources. Water, electricity and ability/system to process.
Water: In Puerto Lopez water is trucked in from an hour away and thats the water for showers, toilets, sinks. Bottled water is cheap. One of the places in Puerto Lopez I bought water charged a quarter for a bottle, the same bottle I paid $2 for in the Atlanta airport. The water pressure is nearly non-existent (because water is a limited resource or is it a mechanical issue) and the temperature of the hot water is luke warm at best.
Electricity: Maybe the water temp has something to do with the electricity. It must be expensive. There are signs at the school to remember to turn out the lights and at Hipatias the family is very good about remembering to turn things off. The hallways in the apartment building (and at the hotel in Puerto Lopez) arent well lit or lit at all. On a regular basis I see the transport of blue gas tanks. They are about two or three times the size you might have to run your outdoor gas grill. Ive seen people carrying them on their backs, in individual push carts, and a truck load full of them. My teacher at the Spanish school said they are for the cucina (kitchen).
Toilets: Throughout the country in every bathroom there are garbage cans to put the used toilet paper. When flushed the toilet paper doesnt go down and Ive fished my fair share out of the bowl and put it in the garbage can. Must be a water pressure thing as well as a water treatment issue. I always wondered whose job is it to empty the trash in the bathroom. Twice Hipatia has asked me to gather up the garbage from the bathrooms in my host family home.