Sunday 30 August 2009

Benefits of a Portable Toilet in Disaster Situation, Hurricanes and Floods

Disasters like hurricanes and floods can occur at anytime and cause havoc to life and property. The very first casualty of such a situation is outbreak of epidemics due to lack of adequate and clean sanitation facilities. Different deadly diseases like Cholera, Hepatitis A, and Cryptosporidiosis raise their ugly head. All these diseases occur due to contaminated water and contact with feces or vomit. The answer to all such concerns lies in a portable toilet.

What are Portable Toilets?

A Portable toilet is a modern and self-contained plastic outhouse. It is made of plastic and available in many different colors. It is normally three feet by seven feet long and has enough space for a single occupant. A portable toilet houses a seated toilet and a urinal.

Ventilation is through the top and has a stovepipe vent for the holding tank. You can lock the door. The weight of the disinfectant liquid at the bottom of the holding tank keeps the toilet in an upright position. Such portable toilets are in use at many social gatherings and construction sites too. Newer models sport additional facilities like antibacterial hand gel dispensers and toilet papers.

How does it function?

Portable sanitation industry is now a booming business with annual turnover of more than 1.5 million dollars. Presently there are more than 1,400,000 portable restrooms with a service fleet of more than 9,400 trucks.

You need toilet units, service personnel like salespeople, technicians, and drivers, service vehicles, and a central headquarters to coordinate all sanitation functions. Such sanitation headquarters need connection to a sanitary sewer system for easy disposal of the effluents. Normally, official disposal sites are in vicinity of such headquarters.

Service personnel normally service forty to fifty toilet units each day. The service truck has a pump and a large tank. There are two compartments in the tank. One of them receives the effluent disposal and the other has fresh substances for cleaning the toilet units. Service personnel scrub clean the interior of the portable toilet with brushes and then towel dry it. They also look into any minor repairs, as necessary. They also replenish all toilet tissue stocks.

Benefits of Portable Toilets

* Portable toilets pose their greatest benefit in their portability. Companies renting out portable toilets assure guarantee of their cleanliness. These companies conduct weekly cleaning sessions by draining, cleaning, disinfecting, and deodorizing the toilets. A pickup truck can haul a portable toilet.

* Such toilets do not clog or overflow, as they do not function with the plumbing feature. This helps develop good sanitation facilities at work sites or even in permanent settlement areas. Better sanitation obviously leads to better environment and therefore better living conditions too.

* Parks and recreational areas can house such portable toilets, as these places do not normally have sewer connected sanitation facilities.

* Portable toilets are best for providing temporary sanitation during natural disasters liker hurricanes, floods, fires, and earthquakes.

* Portable toilets at construction sites help keep toilets at nearby places. This saves time spent on going to far-off distances to attend to nature’s calls. You save time and labor costs. Besides, outdoor workers develop a higher morale too.

* Providing clean sanitation facilities makes you rank high among environmentalists, health authorities, OSHA inspectors, and garners overall support and goodwill from the public. It also promotes goodwill and organizes support from relevant quarters.

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