{{Short description|Toilet that is easily moved around}} [[File:A SOIL EkoLakay toilet customer. (15921409131).jpg|thumb|upright|A portable [[urine-diverting dry toilet]], marketed in [[Haiti]] by [[Sustainable Organic Integrated Livelihoods]] under the name "EkoLakay"]]
A '''portable''' or '''mobile toilet''' (colloquial terms: '''thunderbox''', '''porta-john''', '''porta-potty''' or '''porta-loo''') is any type of [[toilet]] that can be moved around, some by one person, some by mechanical equipment such as a truck and crane. Most types do not require any pre-existing services or infrastructure, such as [[sewerage]], and are completely self-contained. The portable toilet is used in a variety of situations, for example in urban [[Slum|slums]] of [[Developing country|developing countries]], at festivals, for camping, on boats, on construction sites, and at film locations and large outdoor gatherings where there are no other facilities. Most portable toilets are [[unisex]] single units with privacy ensured by a simple lock on the door. Some portable toilets are small molded plastic or [[fiberglass]] portable rooms with a lockable door and a receptacle to catch the [[Human waste|human excreta]] in a container.
A portable toilet is not connected to a hole in the ground (like a [[pit latrine]]), nor to a [[septic tank]], nor is it plumbed into a municipal system leading to a [[sewage treatment plant]]. The [[chemical toilet]] is probably the most well-known type of portable toilet, but other types also exist, such as [[urine-diversion dehydration toilet]]s, [[composting toilet]]s, [[Container-based sanitation|container-based toilets]], [[bucket toilet]]s, [[freezing toilet]]s and [[Incinerating toilet|incineration toilets]]. A [[bucket toilet]] is a very simple type of portable toilet.
==Types== [[File:Porta_Potty_by_David_Shankbone.jpg|thumb|A line of blue plastic portable [[Chemical toilet|chemical toilets]]]]
===Chemical toilets=== {{Main article|Chemical toilet}} [[File:Chemtoi1.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Plastic-moulded outdoor cubicle, commonly used for [[chemical toilet]]s at building sites and festivals]]
A [[chemical toilet]] collects [[human waste]] in a holding tank and uses chemicals to minimize the odors. Most portable toilets use chemicals in this way and therefore are considered chemical toilets. The chemicals may either mask the odor or contain [[Biocide|biocides]] that hinder odor-causing bacteria from multiplying, keeping the smell to a minimum.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Kauffman |first=Kenneth |date=November 1, 2017 |title=11 Fascinating Facts About Portable Toilets |url=https://nislybrothers.com/portable-toilet-facts/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201031092733/https://nislybrothers.com/portable-toilet-facts/ |archive-date=October 31, 2020 |access-date=December 27, 2023 |website=Nisly Brothers}}</ref> ====Enclosed portable toilets==== Enclosed portable chemical toilets are widely used for crowds at festivals, and for worksites without permanent toilets, such as early stages of construction and remote worksites.
On [[airplane toilet|planes]] and [[train toilet|trains]], some toilets are chemical toilets, and others are [[vacuum toilet]]s.
==== Portable camping toilets ==== [[File:Collu merkez (34).jpg|thumb|Various boat toilets, including the most basic models on the bottom right]]
A portable camping toilet has a seat and a small waste tank. Adding a packet of chemicals to the waste tank reduces odors and bacteria, until the waste can be dumped at an appropriate facility. They are used in camping, [[travel trailer]]s, caravans, and camper vans. They may also be used on small boats which lack a built-in [[Head (watercraft)|marine toilet]]. ====WAG bags==== {{main| WAG bag}} Waste aggregation and gelling (WAG) bags have a gel to immobilize liquid waste and surround solid waste in a plastic bag, which is then put in the trash. They are used in the US Army<ref name="dvids">{{Cite web |last=McCann |first=Christina |date=2007-08-14 |title=Soldiers, environment love WAG bag |url=https://www.dvidshub.net/news/11801/soldiers-environment-love-wag-bag |access-date=2025-02-05 |website=Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS) |language=en}}</ref> and in wilderness.<ref name="cecco">{{Cite web |last=Cecco |first=Leyland |date=2023-09-15 |title=When nature calls: Canadian wilderness area offers poop bags to fix fecal furore |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/sep/15/canada-poop-bags-wilderness-hikers |access-date=2025-02-05 |website=The Guardian |language=en-GB}}</ref> They can be used to line a bucket, with a toilet-seat lid, and are required for Utah river trips.<ref name="ksl">{{Cite web |last=Fields |first=Melissa |last2=P.m |first2=2021 at 3:00 |date=2021-08-11 |title=Coming to terms with the poop problem in Utah's outdoors |url=https://www.ksl.com/article/50219376/coming-to-terms-with-the-poop-problem-in-utahs-outdoors |access-date=2025-02-05 |website=www.ksl.com |language=en}}</ref>
=== Urine-diversion dehydration toilets=== {{Main article|Urine-diversion dehydration toilet}} Portable [[urine-diversion dehydration toilet]]s are self-contained [[dry toilet]]s sometimes referred to as "mobile" or "stand-alone" units. They are identifiable by their one-piece molded plastic shells or, in the case of [[Do it yourself|DIY]] versions, simple plywood box construction. Most users of self-contained UDDTs rely upon a collection agency or a post-treatment process to ensure pathogen reduction. This post-treatment may consist of long-term storage or addition to an existing or purpose-built [[compost pile]] or some combination thereof. The necessity of a post-treatment step hinges upon the frequency and volume of use. For instances of infrequent or very modest seasonal use, a post-treatment phase might be deemed unnecessary due to the lower accumulation of waste, simplifying the overall disposal process.
[[Container-based sanitation]] refers to a collection system which regularly replaces full containers with empty containers, and disposes of the waste. === Commode chair=== A [[commode chair]] (a chair enclosing a [[chamber pot]]) is a basic portable toilet that is used next to a bed (bedside commode) for people with limited mobility. Before indoor toilets, it was used world-wide as an indoor alternative to an [[outhouse]].
==History== [[File:Vickers Wellington - Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1939-1941. CH478.jpg|thumb|A portable toilet in a British [[Royal Air Force]] [[World War II|WWII]] plane]]
The [[close stool]], built as an article of furniture, is one of the earliest forms of portable toilet. They can still be seen in [[historic house museum]]s such as [[Sir George-Étienne Cartier National Historic Site]] in [[Old Montreal]], Canada. The velvet upholstered close stool used by William III is on display at [[Hampton Court Palace]]; see [[Groom of the Stool]].
Early versions of the "Elsan chemical closet" ("closet" meaning a small room, see [[water closet]], WC, and [[earth closet]]) were sold at [[Army & Navy Stores (United Kingdom)|Army & Navy Stores]]. Their use in World War II [[bomber]] aircraft<ref>{{cite book|title=Oxford English Dictionary|publisher=Oxford University Press|url=http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/60602?redirectedFrom=elsan#eid|access-date=13 June 2016|archive-date=4 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210504144855/https://www.oed.com/start;jsessionid=7A0831E710BCD9744825290A0A96816A?authRejection=true&url=%2Fview%2FEntry%2F60602%3FredirectedFrom%3Delsan#eid|url-status=live}}</ref> is described at some length by the [[Bomber Command Museum of Canada]]; in brief, they were not popular with either the flying crew or the ground crew.<ref name="naturecalls">{{cite web|author=Wright|first=Ken|date=2010|title=And When Nature Calls|url=https://www.bombercommandmuseum.ca/chronicles/and-when-nature-calls/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201210202949/https://www.bombercommandmuseum.ca/chronicles/and-when-nature-calls/|archive-date=December 10, 2020|access-date=May 4, 2021|website=[[Bomber Command Museum of Canada]]}}</ref>
[[African-American]]s living under [[Jim Crow laws]] (i.e. before the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]]) faced severe challenges. [[Public toilet]]s were [[racial segregation|segregated by race]], and many restaurants and gas stations refused to serve black people, so some travellers carried a portable toilet in the [[trunk (car)|trunk]] of their car.<ref>{{cite web |last=Sugrue |first=Thomas J. |title=Driving While Black: The Car and Race Relations in Modern America |url=http://www.autolife.umd.umich.edu/Race/R_Casestudy/R_Casestudy.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171216063146/http://www.autolife.umd.umich.edu/Race/R_Casestudy/R_Casestudy.htm |archive-date=December 16, 2017 |access-date=December 27, 2023 |work=Automobile in American Life and Society |publisher=[[University of Michigan]]}}</ref>
Since 1974, [[Grand Canyon]] guides rafting on the Colorado River have used [[ammunition box]]es as portable toilets, typically with a removable toilet seat, according to the [[Museum of Northern Arizona]] in [[Flagstaff, Arizona]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=8 July 2021 |title=A History of the Groover |url=https://www.rowadventures.com/blog/history-groover |access-date=2023-12-27 |website=rowadventures.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=22 June 2016 |title=Our History |url=https://www.swca.com/who-we-are/our-history |access-date=2023-12-17 |website=swca.com}}</ref>
==Society and culture== [[File:Commode, Europe, 1831-1900 Wellcome L0057869.jpg|thumb|upright|19th century "thunderbox" portable toilet]]
A slang term, now dated or historic, is a "thunder-box" (''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'': "a portable commode; by extension, any lavatory"). The term was used particularly in [[British India]]; travel writer Stephen McClarence called it "a crude sort of colonial lavatory".<ref>{{cite book|last1=Patterson|first1=Steven|title=The Cult of Imperial Honor in British India|date=2009|publisher=Springer Publishing|page=10}}</ref> One features to comic effect in [[Evelyn Waugh]]'s novel ''[[Men at Arms (Waugh novel)|Men at Arms]]'':<ref>{{Cite book|last=Ayto|first=John|title=The Oxford Dictionary of Slang |location=New York |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1998|isbn=0-19-280104-X |pages=20}}</ref>
{{Quote|"If you must know, it's my thunderbox." ... He...dragged out the treasure, a brass-bound, oak cube... On the inside of the lid was a plaque bearing the embossed title Connolly's Chemical Closet.}}Another slang term "The Johnny on the Spot" refers to portable restrooms always being conveniently available, denoting a similar meaning as the original phrase.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-09-26 |title=9 Nicknames for Porta-Potties and Their Origins |url=https://floodsroyalflush.com/9-nicknames-for-porta-potties-and-their-origins/ |access-date=2025-09-18 |language=en-US}}</ref>
==See also== * [[Accessible toilet]] * [[Dignified Mobile Toilets]], a mobile public toilet system from Nigeria * [[Sanitation]] * [[Telescopic toilet]]
==References== {{Reflist}}
== External links == {{Commons category|Portable toilets}}
{{Toilets}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Portable Toilet}} [[Category:Portable buildings and shelters]] [[Category:Street furniture]] [[Category:Types of toilet]]