{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.
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