There’s a lot that goes into the process of renting portable restrooms for an event or jobsite. Understanding the challenges you may face while ordering, setting up, and maintaining units can help you provide the best possible experience for guests and employees. Read on to discover what to avoid when renting a portable toilet.
Ordering Mistakes
Double-check that you’ve made informed choices for your events when you’re ready to place your rental order. The last thing you want is to create a blatant error on your orders and discover that you won’t be able to meet your guests’ needs with the portable bathrooms you’ve chosen. Below are some of the most common errors you should be aware of when renting portable toilets.
Choosing the Wrong Type of Porta-Potty
The standard one-stall porta-potty is an incredibly versatile option for a wide range of occasions such as concerts, jobsites, festivals, and much more. For many functions, these units allow your visitors to relieve themselves quickly and return to the fun without leaving the premises. However, there are a variety of events where you may need to rent distinct types of portable bathrooms in addition to the conventional porta-potty.
For black-tie events and weddings, for example, renting luxury restroom trailers that replicate the comfort of an indoor bathroom and provide a variety of amenities makes them more suited for these occasions. You may also need to consider ADA and handicap-accessible restrooms to help guests with disabilities, which may also be a legal necessity in some situations. Therefore, you should consider the atmosphere of your event and guest expectations before making rental decisions.
Not Getting Enough Units
Whether you’re aiming to acquire enough portable toilets to serve tens of thousands of concertgoers or planning a 50-person family gathering in the park, picking the wrong number of units can lead to issues. One of the biggest problems stemming from too few units is that individuals may spend an inordinate length of time waiting in line, which causes guest unhappiness and makes it more difficult to clean each unit promptly. When this happens, waste and filth can accumulate in each toilet, making them unsanitary and unusable.
As a general guideline, for events running at least four hours, supply at least one portable bathroom for every 50 attendees. For bigger crowds and more extended events, this ratio may vary. For example, if you’re providing alcohol to guests, you may want to consider investing in extra units because people will be using the restroom more often.
For jobsites, the OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) has recommendations for the number of units needed, which you should also follow. When there are one to fifteen employees on a project, at least one portable toilet is required; when there are sixteen to thirty-five people, at least two units are needed, and so on. Always follow OSHA rules for jobsites and estimate the number of people for events to ensure you receive the correct number of portable bathrooms without going over budget.
Placement Mistakes
Once you’ve determined that you have the correct quantity and type of portable toilets on board, you can place your order. When the bathrooms come, you must ensure that they are placed in the most outstanding possible locations to ensure that you get the most usage out of them. Your portable restroom placement can make or break the guest experience and make life easier or harder for workers on a jobsite.
Setting Up in Areas That Are Too Hot
For a variety of reasons, hot and humid bathrooms are unpleasant. Warm air may worsen unpleasant odors in toilets, and the heat can make being inside for more than a few minutes unbearable. Set up restrooms under shaded areas on hot days and place tents and canopies over them when necessary to keep them cool.
Not Accounting for Weather
In addition to the heat, you must consider extreme weather conditions while making decisions, even if you predict uninterrupted sunshine. Avoid putting portable toilets on dirt, grass, or other surfaces that won’t withstand heavy downpours. Make sure you’re correctly securing each unit to the ground to avoid knocking them down on windy days.
Not Keeping Crowds Controlled
You should set up areas that can manage a high volume of visitors without becoming overcrowded. Consider high-visibility locations near places that people tend to gravitate towards, such as food and beverage booths, lounge areas, and other densely populated areas. For smaller events, you can keep all restrooms in one centralized location, while for more significant events, you should spread out restroom areas.
Additional Mistakes To Avoid
If you don’t adequately prepare in advance, you may encounter additional problems once your event begins and you’ve set up your restrooms. To deliver the most incredible possible guest experience, keep these issues in mind.
Not Keeping Restrooms Stocked
When you don’t keep your bathrooms adequately stocked, your toilets might become unusable, whether it’s due to your staff’s inability to clean them as soon as possible or through a shortage of necessities such as toilet paper. Verify that each unit is well-stocked with toilet paper, hand sanitizer solutions, and air fresheners so that you can quickly replenish them when needed. You may also want to double-check any added amenities, such as breath mints and colognes that you’re providing within luxury trailer rentals.
Failing To Service Toilets Regularly
When excrement and other waste materials accumulate, toilets tend to smell awful and become unsanitary to use. You must ensure that routine service is scheduled for each unit to remove waste from the tanks, clean and disinfect surfaces, and apply more detergent to counteract odors. For larger gatherings, you may want to consider a holding tank, which will retain extra waste from the portable toilet units and allow you to go longer between emptying them, which keeps them more sanitary.
Ultimately, when trying to figure out what to avoid when renting a portable toilet, you should work with Floods Royal Flush to help answer any questions you may have. For years, we have been a porta-potty rental mainstay in Chicago, and we strive to bring the highest quality service to the region. Feel free to contact us today for a free quote and to get started on your next event.
