Introduction

Many events require the most necessary of evils: Porta Potties. Porta Potties themselves aren’t bad inventions, but people are often messy, especially when they’re grossed out and want to get in and out of the bathroom as quickly as possible. You can find Porta Potties at festivals, fairgrounds, concerts, construction sites, and numerous other locations. You might have even used one a couple of times. But have you ever had to clean one? First, you have to get over the grossness. But second, how does one clean a Porta Potty?

Who Cleans the Porta Potty?

There is some good news. If you don’t work for a company that services Porta Potties, then it usually won’t be your job. Servicing is normally done by the rental company’s trained crews, who pump the tanks and haul the waste to approved disposal sites. If you are working for a festival, fair, or other event, check who the rental contract makes responsible.

If you rented a Porta Potty for a home event, such as a birthday party, then the responsibility of cleaning the mess is more of a gray area. You’re going to want to look at the contract you signed and see who is listed as responsible. Most of the time, the rental company handles pumping and sanitizing, because handling human waste is a hazard. If you need to make quick touch ups throughout the day, though, keep some disinfecting wipes with you and regularly clean the most touched surfaces.

If you are an employee of a Porta Potty sanitization business, then your job is to go from bathroom to bathroom cleaning out the reusable, portable toilets. This can be a difficult, messy task, but it’s something that must be done.

The Hazards of the Job

While there is the foul smell of the toilets and the general grossness of the job, cleaning a Porta Potty does come with specific risks because you are handling biohazards. Human waste – fecal matter, urine, vomit, etc. – contains tons of bacteria and sometimes viruses that spread rapidly between individuals. You will need to wear gloves, goggles, and potentially an entire suit to avoid contact with germs such as E. coli and rotavirus, and with potentially infected blood.

The blue liquid in the tank mainly controls odor and breaks down waste. Depending on the product, it may not disinfect much at all, and it does nothing for messes outside the toilet. You must be careful when cleaning the toilet.

Cleaning the Tank

Professionals drive huge trucks with tanks on the back meant to hold the contents of the Porta Potty. To clean the toilet, you first need to make sure there is room in your tank. This is done by dropping off already collected waste at a special sanitation facility before heading to a large job site. Most facilities have special hoses that attach to the tank and drain it of its contents until dry. Once this is done, you can handle the Porta Potty.

Your first job will be to naturally clean the internal toilet tank of the Porta Potty. This is pretty simple. Just insert the hose and suck up the water and waste first. Then, you can use a special disinfecting pressure vacuum to spray the interior of the tank and scrub and suck away stuck waste and dirty water. All of this can be siphoned into the main holding tank on the truck.

Cleaning the Interior Surfaces

Once the toilet bowl and tank is clean, you can worry about the interior surfaces of the Porta Potty. Humans are messy creatures, and there will often be urine, feces, vomit, and even blood on the toilet seat, the bench, and any sanitation materials inside the central unit.

Different companies use various methods to clean, but most use a spray vacuum like the one used to clean the tank and bowl. Simply spray every available surface with a low pressure disinfectant and allow it to sit for a few minutes. Then, wash it away with a spray of water. Once done, you can vacuum away the liquids, leaving behind a dry, clean Porta Potty.

Cleaning the Touch Points

Once these two big jobs are done, you can focus on disinfecting the touch points. A touch point is a section of the Porta Potty that sees a lot of hands touching the surface. The one that most often comes to mind is the handle in and out of the unit, but other potential areas are sinks, the surface of an internal hand sanitizer container, and the door in general. You can usually spray a general disinfectant, let it sit for a minute, and then wipe away the liquid with a clean cloth. This will eliminate any germs or bacteria lurking on the surface with little effort.

Conclusion

Cleaning a Porta Potty can be a messy business, but thankfully sanitization professionals and engineers have it down to a science. The most important steps are to make sure you wear proper safety equipment to avoid coming into contact with waste materials and ensuring you have the right tools to complete the job. Remember to use disinfectant, always cover your hands and eyes, and wash your hands with soap and water when you finish. If this is part of your job, OSHA requires employers to provide protective equipment and train you to use it. You may know how to clean a Porta Potty, but that doesn’t mean you have to!

What’s Next

Now that you know how to clean a Porta Potty, you can focus on other important aspects of your life not related to human waste. If you liked this guide and would like to learn more about portable camping toilets, check out this website. We regularly post tips, tricks, product reviews, and other guides covering every possible home topic to keep you educated, entertained, and informed.

Sources

• Personal Protective Equipment, OSHA
• About Handwashing, CDC