Servicing and Pumping a Porta Potty

Patriot Portable Restrooms is a family-owned and -operated business, so we’ve all had to do the dirty work, cleaning and pumping out the porta potties. We get a lot of questions about how and when we empty the toilets, what we do with the waste, and more, so we wanted to write them all out here for your reference.

How often does a portable toilet need to be pumped?

The general rule of thumb is that porta potties should be pumped once a week, however, this is dependent on how often the porta potty is used, the number of units available for use, and the weather conditions.

Usage

Will the porta potty rental experience high traffic at your event, job-site, or project? If so, you should plan on having it pumped/serviced more frequently, such as 3-4 times a week. If you don’t pump the porta potty enough, they can fill up which discourages people from using it.

Number of Units

If you choose to rent a fewer amount of porta potties, then you will have to have them serviced more frequently too. If you don’t want to have them serviced multiple times a week, then rent additional units.

Temperatures

The hotter the temperature, the worse the waste in the porta potty will smell. That means if your rentals will be exposed to hotter weather conditions, they will have to be pumped and service more frequently. On the other hand, in colder climates porta potties will not have to be emptied as often.

How many gallons of waste does a porta potty typically hold?

The standard porta potty waste tank holds about 50-60 gallons of waste, equating to about 150 uses.

How are porta potties emptied?

Sanitation technicians use a vacuum-like hose to pump out the waste. The waste goes into a storage tank on a truck which then brings the waste to a water treatment plant. The technicians then pour several gallons of blue liquid into the portable toilet. It serves as a disinfectant and odor neutralizer, and it can also measure the porta potty usage, so workers know when to service it again.

Servicing and pumping the portable toilets is crucial to keeping them in working order. When you rent a porta potty and luxury restroom trailer from Patriot Portable Restrooms, our team of professionals will help to advise on the frequency of service you’ll need based on the event or project.

We include a weekly service for construction site rentals, but for multiple services a week, that is an additional charge. If you are renting units for a weekend event and need an end-of-event service that is an additional charge as well. Give us a call today for more information or fill out our free quote form below and we will get back to you ASAP.