The Best Way To Clean A Portable Toilet
Portable toilets are often the unsung heroes at festivals and construction sites.However, they are always there providing the space everyone needs to eventually take care of business.
If you've been to a big festival you may have your own horror story relating to the condition you've found some in after a few days. This is why cleaning portable toilets is a vital aspect of the overall hire process.
Portable toilets require an extremely high level of cleaning when being used. This in order to achieve the hygiene standards required for re-use.
Portable toilets are fairly straightforward to maintain. Normally a weekly service will be included as standard when you hire them which takes care of things.
However, the exact maintenance schedule will be depending on how often they are being used. Toilets that see a high amount of use may require more than one service a week. Generally speaking, portable toilets should be serviced at least once a week
A weekly service is guaranteed in all our hires so you can have peace of mind your toilets will be maintained and remain clean for those who need to use them.
However, if you intend to clean your portable toilet yourself there are a few things you will need.
The Supplies You Will Need
- Anti-Bacterial spray
- Toilet Deodoriser
- Odour removing spray
- High pressure hot wash
- Waste suction/vacuum machine
- Toilet chemical replacement fluid
- Odour removing fluid
- Replacement of toilet paper
- Replacement consumables (paper, hand sanitiser)
- PPE Equipment
The 4 Point Portable Toilet Cleaning Process
- Pump
- Clean
- Sanitise
- Restock
1. Pump
Use your vacuum pump to remove the waste inside the tank of the portable toilet. To prevent any debris from being sucked up make sure you put your hose all the way to the bottom and slightly to one side.
Once the waste is at a low-level check if you have to remove any debris from inside the tank.
You will then need to transport this waste to an authorised sanitation cleaning facility. Here the waste will be treated safely and sanitarily.
2. Clean
Most of today’s portable toilets are made of HDPE (High Density Polyethylene). Thankfully, this makes them every easy to clean.
Cleaning the inside of the portable toilet is very important. and needs to be done in order to prevent mould accumulating, and stop bacteria or germs developing. None of which the people using it want to walk into.
This is where your high-pressure washer comes in very handy. Spray the inside of the toilet with your anti-bacterial spray and give it a good rinse.
During this part it will also be worth looking for any broken parts that need replacing. Common areas are to check are door handles or hand sanitisers.
This is more common at festivals where the slightly more intoxicated users tend to cause damage accidentally.
3. Sanitise
Once your toilet is fresh and clean the next step is to ensure any smell sand bacteria are well and truly taken care of. The deodorise and odour removing spray are mandatory!
After cleaning, refill the holding tank with water mixed with fresh chemical deodoriser product (also called blue products). Once done give the toilet the once over with the odour removing spray.
You can choose the deodoriser in a liquid format or in packets.Packets might be easier to use (drop and go) and to control quantity, but liquid is usually more concentrated.
Drop in the tank:
- Liquid: 100ML of liquid deodoriser for 10 to 12L of water
- Packets: 1 portion control for 10 to 12L of water
Now whilst all this obviously won’t keep the toilet clean forever it will make it a lot more welcoming for the next users. Remember a portable toilet is always judged by the smell when you first walk in.
4. Restock
Next you need to make sure all the essential supply consumables are well stocked and ready to use. We’re talking toilet paper, paper towels, hand sanitiser or soap if included, or even air freshener.
If you offer a bin inside the Portable Restroom make sure you empty it if needed.
If the portable loo is used for a big event, make sure to offer more toilet paper rolls or to replace it more regularly.
How are portable toilets emptied?
A weekly service should be included with any portable toilet hire. Your hire company will arrive on site with vacuum tankers that have massive storing tanks. Then, they will connect large hoses into the output holes of the toilet.
The hoses suck out the waste using vacuum technology and empty the remains into their truck’s large tanks. For example, we have a range of tankers that can hold from 500 gallon to 4000 gallons of liquid waste. Yep, that's a lot of sh...
What's more as a registered waste broker you can rest assured, we will dispose of your waste in an environmentally friendly way.
How often should portable toilets be cleaned?
As mentioned above the frequency of cleaning will depending entirely on the amount of usage your toilet gets.
A weekly service should be the minimum you should aim for. You will be able to determine fairly quickly if you need to do this more.
For construction sites with portable toilets once a week will probably suffice. At large events, especially where alcohol is being served you may require services a week.
