Do you need to rent a porta-potty? While there are many instances where having a portable restroom on site would be great, many people aren’t sure where to begin. That’s why Pacific Sanitation is here. Our team can assist you with selecting the correct type of porta potty for your event, getting it to you on time, and emptying it regularly. If you’ve never rented a porta-potty before, this basic guide may answer many of your questions. You can then contact Pacific Sanitation for more information or to get a quote for your next event.

 

What Events Are Ideal for Porta Potties?

 

There are many events where porta-potties would come in handy. Determining if your event is one of these is the first step of renting a portable restroom. Here are some of the questions you should ask yourself to determine if you need porta potties:

• Are there restroom facilities at the venue or nearby?
• Will those restrooms be open for your event? Just because there are nearby restrooms doesn’t mean your guests will be able to use them.
• Will those restrooms be adequate? If there are only two single-stall restrooms and you have 200 or more guests at the venue, the answer is probably no.
• Can you decorate any available restrooms? This may not be a concern for some events, but for weddings and other social events, you may want to put your own touch on the restrooms.

 

If you answer no to any of these questions, especially the first one, you may need to start looking for “porta potty rental near me” online. Here are some examples of events that definitely need restroom access:

• Outdoor weddings
• Sporting events
• Family reunions
• Birthday parties
• Receptions
• Company picnics
• School track meets
• Summer camps
• Outdoor graduations
• Fairs and festivals

 

Essentially, any outdoor event where people will spend more than an hour or so will need some form of a restroom. If you’re going to be serving food and drink, even shorter events should have porta-potties available.

 

There are other times you may want to rent a porta-potty. Suppose you’re doing a major home renovation and won’t have a functioning bathroom in your house for days or weeks. In that case, a porta-potty may be necessary if you’re still living at home. If you’re flipping a house, you may also need a porta potty for you and your crew if you’re moving plumbing around. If you own a construction company, you’ll likely need porta potties at most, if not all, of your job sites.

 

What Kind of Porta Potty is Right for Your Event?

 

There are several different porta potty options out there. The basic porta potty provides a toilet and urinal but no sink or running water. The deluxe model provides more space and includes a handwashing station inside the porta-potty. For many events, one of these models is sufficient. However, you may also need an ADA-compliant toilet or two to make sure every guest can access the restroom. Standard porta potties are often found at fairs, sporting events, company gatherings, and other casual outdoor events.

 

For your wedding, reception, or birthday party, though, you may want a luxury porta potty. These porta potties come on trailers and are more like small portable buildings. You can select from a two-stall or three-stall option. The three-stall trailer porta potty trailer includes an ADA-compliant stall, which may be necessary for your event. These trailers also have running water, heaters, and air conditioners for each stall. They’re ideal for upscale events.

 

There are a few other specialty porta potty rental options. Some, such as crane porta-potties and high-rise units, are primarily used on construction sites. They’re easily moved up to higher floors or down into basement levels of buildings that are under construction. Another specialty option is the shower trailer. These three-stall porta potty trailers include showers inside the porta potty stalls. They’re great for camps or other areas where your guests may need to shower.

 

Cost

 

Many people wonder about porta potty rental costs. If your budget is relatively small, you may not want to allocate a lot of it toward a bathroom. It really comes down to what kind of porta potty you want, how long you’ll need it, and how many times it needs to be emptied. For single-day events, you’ll find porta potty rental is very affordable. For longer events with large crowds, you may need to look at the math to see what works out better for you: renting more porta-potties or having them serviced more often. We will help you understand the cost breakdown, so you rent the correct number of toilets without breaking your budget.

 

Common Questions

Now that you have an idea of when you’ll need portable restrooms and have an answer to how much it costs to rent a porta potty, it’s time to look at some of the other common questions we often hear.

 

How Does a Porta Potty Work?

One question many people have is how do porta potties work? These self-contained units make use of special chemicals that help control bacteria and reduce the smell. Waste does stay in the grey/black water holding tank, which is the technical term for water that has been used or contaminated. The chemicals in this tank do mask smells as well as begin breaking down waste much faster than it usually would. These chemicals typically include a blue dye that helps let you know when the porta potty needs to be emptied. This dye changes to a green color when it has mixed with large amounts of waste, indicating that it’s time to empty the unit.

 

To clean the porta-potties, we bring a tanker truck to your site. We use a vacuum to transfer the wastewater from the unit to the truck’s tank, then clean out the unit with fresh water and a new chemical solution. We also clean everything in the unit, including the toilet, urinal, floor, door, and walls. When the cleaning process is done, the unit has been thoroughly sterilized and is ready for use again.

 

How Often Does a Porta Potty Need Cleaned?

When it comes to offering your guests clean portable restrooms, you want the emphasis to be on the “clean” part. Determining how often your rented toilets need to be cleaned can be difficult. If your event is a single day, you won’t need cleaning at all. However, if you’ll have the porta potties for a week or more, they will likely need to be serviced at least once.

 

There are two significant factors in determining how often your porta potties need to be cleaned. The first is how many porta potties you have on-site. If you have enough or more than enough for your guests, you likely won’t need to empty them as often. However, if you miscalculated or have more guests than expected, you may need to have the units emptied ahead of schedule. We can help you estimate how many you need and be ready if you have many more people than expected.

 

Where Should Porta-Potties Be Placed?

It would be best if you had a porta-potty in any location where your guests will go looking for clean portable restrooms. Often, this is near the entrance to the venue or near the back. If you have a food court, food trucks, or other areas where people are eating and drinking, it makes sense to have restrooms nearby. For large locations, you may need banks of porta-potties located in several areas.

 

You do need to put porta potties on level ground, and they will need to be in a location our trucks can access. If you’re renting a luxury portable restroom trailer, it will need to be placed somewhere with space enough for the truck to drop it off and maneuver out of.

 

Can You Clean Porta-Potties Yourself?

If there’s an obvious spill inside the porta-potty, you may want to clean it up just so the unit can continue to be used until we can empty it. However, overall, no, you shouldn’t try to empty the unit yourself. Cleaning a porta-potty requires a tanker truck and specific cleaning products. It’s a task best left to the experts. If a unit does need attention, it’s best to place an “out of order” sign on it and call us.

 

Ready to Rent a Porta Potty?

 

If you’re in need of a porta potty for your next event, Pacific Sanitation is here to help. We offer everything from standard porta potties to luxury trailers along with specialty options such as high-rise porta-potties and shower trailers. All of our portable restrooms are priced competitively, and we will help you determine the right option for your event and budget. All of our units can be rented for a day, week, month, or even longer, depending on your needs. We’ll also work with you to determine the proper cleaning schedule for your rentals. Contact Pacific Sanitation today with any questions you may have or to learn more about our porta potty rentals.