We’ve all used portable toilets at some point in our lives, whether at a music festival, sporting event, a food festival or as a strike of luck when we’ve desperately needed one. As a relatively new invention, there are lots of interesting things to know about these portable structures.
Here are 5 interesting facts about portable loos.
They were created in the 1940s
Portable toilets are a relatively new invention and haven’t even been around for 100 years. They were created in the 1940s during World War 2 in America. At this time, shipbuilding was a big industry, however, employees weren’t being as productive as they could have been because they were spending a lot of time walking up the docks to find the nearest toilet. To tackle this issue, they created wooden toilet blocks on each ship with small holding tanks attached. These were the first portable toilets, not too different from what we have today.
The flush is blue for a reason
When you use a portable toilet you may wonder why the flush is blue in comparison to your toilet at home. This is to keep the toilets looking clean and smelling fresh, even when they are being used frequently all day long. Most chemical toilet fluids contain biocides, fragrances, detergents and dye. The dye also acts as a colourant that can cover up the appearance of everything that goes into the collection tank.
They are more environmentally friendly
According to the Portable Sanitation Association, portable restrooms save 125 million gallons of freshwater each day. When we swap our regular toilets for the blue flush, we’re actually saving a lot of water. Flushing the toilet uses more water every day than any other activity, including showering. Portable toilets waste 90% less water than a regular toilet so they’re actually helping us save the planet.
They can be more luxurious than you think
We all have a clear image in our heads of what portable toilets look like - particularly if you’ve ever used one at the end of a music festival. However, they have advanced much more over the years and while we still use the classic plastic portable toilets, portable cabins are becoming much more widespread and you can even find full bathroom blocks with porcelain bowls and sinks and even showers.
Toilet roll wasn’t always available
Toilet roll is a modern luxury we often take for granted but it wasn’t widely used until the late 1800s. It wasn’t until 1935 that a splinter-free toilet roll was made, meaning it wasn’t particularly comfortable to use until fairly recently. While you expect to use a portable toilet with toilet roll, it wasn’t always a widely used item.
Manchester Cabins offers portable building hire for a range of requirements. Whether you’re looking for toilet blocks, shower blocks, temporary offices or accommodation or cabins for sale, we can provide you with reliable container hire in Manchester. Get in touch with us today.
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