# How come my steady stream of pee...
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-my-steady-stream-of-pee/126148
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [August 29, 2002, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-my-steady-stream-of-pee/126148 "2002-08-29T19:26:46Z")
**Posts on this page:** 5
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@dorkusmalorkusmafia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorkusmalorkusmafia)
#### Post date: [August 29, 2002, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-my-steady-stream-of-pee/126148/1 "2002-08-29T19:26:46Z")
…produces bubbles? I understand the basic aspect. Air forced under water makes bubbles come to the top. I know that is how it is supposed to work. But how does it work on the surface?
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### Author:  [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)
#### Post date: [August 30, 2002, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-my-steady-stream-of-pee/126148/2 "2002-08-30T03:28:22Z")
I’m not a chemist, nor a physicist. Maybe one will be along shortly. Ordinary water makes bubbles, of course, but they don’t last. For that you need some extra ingredients, such as the surfactants that make suds on your dishwater. So, which of these are in your pee? I don’t know, but I gave your question a bump.
–Nott
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### Author:  [@cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cynic)
#### Post date: [August 30, 2002, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-my-steady-stream-of-pee/126148/3 "2002-08-30T05:42:50Z")
If a stream of urine (or even plain water) has a high enough velocity it will produce some bubbles when it impinges against the toilet water. But if you’re leaving a head of foam so thick that it looks like you just dumped a Guinness Stout[sup]TM[/sup] into the urinal, it could be a sign of a medical problem, such as [Proteinuria](http://www.nephrologychannel.com/proteinuria/index.shtml#sym).
> [@](#):
>
> **Excess protein can cause the urine to foam in water. This occurs because protein changes the surface tension between urine and water.**
Another possible way you could be introducing protein into your urine is through [Retrograde Ejaculation](http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001282.htm), assuming you’re a male. IANAMD.
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### Author:  [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)
#### Post date: [August 30, 2002, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-my-steady-stream-of-pee/126148/4 "2002-08-30T06:13:18Z")
I asked much the same question a while back: [Why does urine foam?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=113921&highlight=urine)
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### Author:  [@dorkusmalorkusmafia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorkusmalorkusmafia)
#### Post date: [August 30, 2002, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-my-steady-stream-of-pee/126148/5 "2002-08-30T17:38:39Z")
Interesting reading there. Thanks for the update everyone. Shows that there really is “nothing new under the sun.”