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When I started working for Johnny Blue eight years ago, I never thought the porta potty business could be so in depth, sometimes complicated, sometimes hectic, sometimes funny and sometimes, well just out right shocking.  This week I had one of those shocking moments, and it got me thinking.  There are things people in the porta potty business know that people who use porta potties would never think about.  And why would they? It doesn’t affect them.

How Pumping Works

Cleaning porta potties is much like cleaning your house and vacuuming your floors.  A long hose, 45’ minimum, is used to vacuum the contents of the potty into a holding tank on the truck. Then the contents of the tank must be emptied, through another hose to a waste station.  And just like a vacuum hose, the hose collecting the contents from the toilet can become clogged.  So, before our tech begins pumping, he must visually inspect the tank.  If he or she (yes women pump also) can see anything that is not supposed to be in the toilet, they use grabbers to retrieve the item. (I know, Yuck!) Then hopefully, there is a trash can on site but if not, they put the item in a 5-gallon bucket carried on their truck. (Double YUCK!) Even after all this, the hose can still become clogged. And how do you get your vacuum hose unclogged?  Personally, I have used my broom handle to try to push the clog through my vacuum, and if I can’t get it, I turn it over to my husband to figure it out. But 45’ is a long hose, so we can try a ram rod but that doesn’t always work. So, what do we do if we can’t push it through?  Well, our employees have found a way to connect two of our trucks vacuum systems together, one pushing and the other pulling to get the clog free.  Great ingenuity guys!  But all the extra work can affect the efficiency and time of the routes our pumpers run daily.

Do Your Part to Help Our Technicians

We use a special chemical that breaks down the toilet paper we provide as well as the human waste.  What it does not break down is the many items we find in the porta potties regularly.  Some of these items include cigarette butts, N-95 masks, work gloves and food waste including bones, fast food bags and wrappers.  We have even found rocks, wine glasses, boxer shorts and other under garments. That is a lot to fish out of a toilet.

You can do your part to help our technicians.  Don’t put anything in the porta potties except the toilet paper we provide and human waste.  It’s that easy.  Our pumpers chose to do this grueling, disgusting job for many reasons, whether it’s because our Johnny Blue team is truly a family, the pay is good, they enjoy working with the public, etc.  Each of our pumpers has their own reason.  Let’s not make their jobs any more difficult than they already are!