Germans use clever way to deter drunk people from peeing on buildings

Fed up residents of a Germany neighborhood known for its popular night clubs are using a clever technique to get drunk people to stop peeing on the walls of buildings.

In Hamburg's St. Pauli neighborhood, hordes of drunken tourists, prostitutes and others up to no good are having their pee splash back on themselves after residents have been coating town walls with a water-repellant paint.

Resident Julia Staron organized a local interest group to help apply Ultra-Ever Dry, a super-hydrophobic paint originally developed by carmaker Nissan. The coating, which is also used in shipbuilding, is powerful enough to push water molecules away, meaning that late night pee-ers get a nasty surprise.

"Wild peeing has been a problem here for a long time. But in recent years, it got worse," Staron told Reuters.

Germans even have a nickname for these errant pee-ers: Wildpinkler.

In addition to coating walls, Staron has also been seen posting signs in German and English that read Hier nicht pinkeln! Wir pinkeln zurueck (Do not pee here! We pee back!).

"Next week, we are also planning to paint the problem area around Zur Ritze (nightclub) and put up the signs. But owners obviously have to approach us because we can't just run around painting someone else's building.”

The Ultra-Ever Dry technique isn't cheap. Staron told Reuters that it costs about 500 euros (or $530) to paint about 65 sq. feet of wall space. But the determined activist says it’s worth it,  and she has already seen an improvement where the walls have been treated.

See the high-tech paint in action.