pumper and cleaners international expo

{This is me, embarrassed and having very poor aim over a prototype of a 'Russian toilet.' Besides having bad aim, this is really how it is meant to be used...)

Yesterday I went down to the Pumper and Cleaner International Expo. Its a huge show for people in the sanitation business...

There were a number of booths showcasing the latest and greatest in porta-potty design. Everything is plastic, but there were little innovations everywhere: toilet paper holders that double as a shelf, 'hover handles' (handles on the inside of doors that people can hold onto while doing their best not to make contact with the toilet seat), sinks, toilets that flush, heaters, coat hooks... the list goes on... It was really great for me, because I picked up brochures from all the manufactures so I will now have a very complete competitive analysis.

A big part of port-o-potties is the chemicals you find in them. One gentleman stuffed a few samples of the 'blue stuff' and some air fresheners in my bag yesterday. Unfortunately, they made my entire car smell like a (clean) porta-potty. This made me realize- very clearly- that even clean porta-potty smell is relatively foul. There has got to be a better solution, and I think it may come in the form of a composting toilet. Someone needs to do for porta-potties what method has done for home cleaning products.

The air freshener guy also told me a couple stories: first, he acts as his company's liaison for Mexico. Apparently, porta-potties are relatively rare there, but very necessary where people are planting and harvesting fruits and vegetables. So, they brought portable bathrooms to the people and they were appalled. They found them unsanitary and still preferred to do their business in the fields. I asked the company representative if this lead to any changes in their product, and he explained to me that they simply had to put the workers through mandatory training to use the toilets. Its a classic example of people thinking that the people, not the product, are at fault. It makes me uneasy.

The other story was more for human interest: police were chasing some dastardly criminal, and at one point lost track of him. This is because he went into the tank of a porta-potty. He also promptly got stuck there; they had to cut the thing apart to get him out.

giant strides of productivity

{a quick side-by-side: a more-respectable bathroom at school and a fairly standard port-o-potty}

This morning I had the pleasure of visiting Rumpke portable restrooms HQ. They were nice enough to take me on a fully comprehensive tour of the facilities (no pun intended), and I learned a ton about the business and the perspective of the business owner. I'm rather impressed with how innovative Rumpke is; they developed an infant changing port-o-potty and a port-o-potty for miners. They are one of the biggest businesses of their type in the country, with approximately 10,000 portable restrooms. They also shared with me the fact that their restrooms..ermm.. received one million gallons of waste in January. That is a phenomenal number!

Before I left today, they gave me some super-important information:

The best port-o-potty, from the perspective of the business owner, would basically be vandalism-proof. Apparently, there is a humongous problem with graffiti and with people setting these things on fire. I guess sometimes Rumpke goes to pick up a potty and finds a big puddle of congealed, melted plastic. This results in the person who rented the potty being charged for the cost of the unit, which is easily $500+.

The man I spoke with also clued me in to a national trade show going on in Louisville this week for the port-o-potty (aka sanitation) industry. I am tentatively planning to go down and check it out...

I think its appropriate, here, to make a quick 'plug' for reaching out to people for help. A simple email to a general Rumpke address resulted in my hour and a half tour today and innumerable resources opening up. I have found time and time again that if you take the first step, people are more than willing to meet you half way- especially if you happen to be a student.

anthony bourdain: no reservations

Tracy just sent me some great pages from Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations book. They cover some aspects of bathrooms of the world, and it brings up a couple interesting points...

-How different or similar should a port-a-potty be to a public bathroom? How close should it be to a private bathroom?

-Is there a way to tackle this thesis problem that could make the final result applicable not just domestically, but internationally?

>Even looking at the domestic market, different regions and states have distinctively different laws and needs. Southern California gets far hotter than northern Michigan, so ventilation would seemingly need to be adjusted...

-Where is the line drawn between a normal no-big-deal bathroom experience and a terrible bathroom experience like many people have in port-o-potties?

One other thing... port-o-potty tipping seems to be a real problem. If port-o-potties were more difficult to tip, it would surely make sanitation worker's lives much, much better,

The survey is pretty much wrapped up- thank you to everyone who participated. I'll be synthesizing the results and post more information here soon!

talking to the stakeholders: Todd Bucher

From the way I see it, there are a handful of 'stakeholders' in the port-o-potty equation:

-the manufacturers

-the people who buy them (often for a rental business)

-the people who rent them (often for special events)

-the people who use them

-the people who clean them/transport them

Ideally, I will get some perspective on all the stakeholders. My survey is addressing the general public ('the people who use them'), and I am visiting Rumpke next week to learn more about the people who buy them and the people who clean them. That leaves...the people who rent them. Todd Bucher, a member of the Cincinnati Regional Chamber, is in charge of renting port-o-potties for the Taste of Cincinnati and Oktoberfest, two of the largest outdoor events in the city each year. We exchanged a couple emails and he shared the information above. (click on the image to see it larger) The most interesting fact to me? They keep a pumper on-site, and someone is constantly checking the facilities to see if they need to be pumped. Yikes.

starting out analog

Responses to my survey are starting to come in, and here is just a small snapshot of what people are saying. I really think that this is a topic people feel like they can be candid about, and that makes reading the responses pretty enjoyable. Thanks to everyone who has filled out the survey so far!
Sunday night I post-it noted my bedroom wall with different issues surrounding this project. This morning I put all that into 'mind map' form. I'll keep adding as new things arise. Two of the more interesting aspects: the concern about vandalism (never quite thought about that one...) and the potential for a composting port-o-let (check out the wikipedia page here.)

I'm also looking forward to visiting the Rumpke portable restroom HQ next Wednesday. Hopefully they will let me take photos...

senior thesis 2010: port-o-potty

For my industrial design senior thesis, I have decided to redesign a port-o-potty (aka port-o-let, port-o-john, porta potty, etc.) I started this blog (just now, actually) to keep track of the process and provide insight into how a designer tackles a problem like this. I'm about a week into research, and will start posting my findings here.

To start things off, it would be great if you would participate in my survey here. It seems like everyone has had an experience- usually bad- with a porta potty. Learning more about these bad experiences (and good experiences) will lead to a better potty in the end!

Feel free to contact me (or leave comments) with any feedback, suggestions, or criticism. I can be reached at carlyhagins@gmail.com.