Winter in the Portable Toilet Industry -

Winter in the Portable Toilet Industry

Winter is coming and with it comes snow, ice and freezing temperatures. Like all businesses and homeowners, there are quite a few things that need to be completed in our industry prior to the arrival of winter. Things such as changing tires and equipment as well as winterizing portable toilets. Many people may not realize the value of the fall maintenance and winter procedures, but that are irreplaceable in nature.

Winterizing the Portable Toilets

Our portable toilets are typically filled with water and 2 chemical blue packets. This all needs to change come winter, since the water will freeze.

Brine Solution

Our winter brine solution is a mixture of salt and concentrated blue chemicals. It requires a minimum of 24 hours to reach full potency. This ensures that the liquid in the portable toilets will not freeze. This solution is only effective with portable toilets that are being regularly serviced and that accommodate 10 people for a regular work week. Too much usage will dilute the mixture, and although frozen waste is pleasantly odorless, it makes it incredibly difficult to service.

Portable Toilet Changes

The first service during the winterization process takes a bit of time. Any units with sinks must be drained and the flappers must be removed from the flushing toilets. This is because the flappers will often freeze shut and will no longer be operational. Another thing that will freeze is the hand soap. These need to be switched out for alcohol-based hand sanitizer as well as labelled differently. Urinal pucks are removed and replaced with some rocks and salt. This allows the liquids to continue flowing despite the freezing weather.

Truck Change Over

Over the course of about two weeks, the trucks are taken out of service for a day or two and winterization begins.

Equipment Removal

The first step is to remove the summer equipment. This includes the water pumps and the pressure washers. If they are left on board, they will freeze and create a very expensive repair bill. Our trucks are also outfitted with freshwater tanks that must be fully emptied prior to the temperature change.

Brine Tanks

Separate brine tanks are then mounted and secured in the bed of the truck. This helps ensure that the regular water tanks do not rust and become unusable. The brine tanks are made of multiple materials. Our older tanks are made of plastic; however, we have been updating them to stainless steel tanks.

Equipment Additions

The trucks also receive new winter tires for optimal traction and grill covers to help keep the radiators warm and speed up the inside heating of the vehicle. On board additions include pickled sand, shovels, winter brushes, and icepicks. Any spray bottles used for cleaning have windshield washer fluid added to them to help prevent them from breaking due to the temperatures.

Winter Protocols

As the weather takes a turn for the worse, so do the road conditions. At Call of the Wild, our moto is “When in doubt, stay out.” This saves money on tow bills and helps our technicians to feel comfortable in their jobs. To keep all team members save we will also ground the fleet if there is a blizzard, ice storm or if the temperatures drop below -20⁰ C.

Dispatching

On the dispatching side of things, the road conditions and closures must be taken into consideration during scheduling. Failure options are added for our technicians to choose why they could not service. These added options include road not plowed, road is too icy and toilet blocked by snow.

Conclusion

Despite the added difficulties in servicing the portable toilets over the winter periods, we do our best to keep service as consistent as possible. The many things in our industry that require change prior to the colder weather may take some time, however, it also gives us the best chance possible to continue keeping our contractors and customers satisfied.

Check out our blogs for more information on the portable toilet industry or our website for different rental options.