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04fxsts's avatar
04fxsts
Explorer
Sep 19, 2017

Port-A- Potty

DW and I just bought a beautiful piece of property for camping, only around three acres but on the river. Former owners had put in a 30 amp hookup for their camper and since it is in a flood plain that is pretty much all you can do to the property. Only 14 miles from home with a place we can dump for cheap about halfway in between.
We can go quite a while on our fresh and waste tanks but sometimes when we have family get affairs which we will have I hate to fill our tanks. Considering a Port-A-Potty and a pop-up enclosure for these occasions. Looking at Amazon there is a bunch of each and am looking for people that have used a setup like this. Amazon has reviews but I like "real world" reviews.
I have been leaning toward the Camco premium with the 5 gallon tank but there so many with 4 stars I just don't know. Thanks for the help, Jim.

28 Replies

  • brings to mind a story about something we did, when we were kids with one that I really cannot tell here....lol, Suffice to say the 'occupant' got smelly...
  • mike-s wrote:
    Portable toilets don't hold much, less than most RVs.

    We bought a full sized portable restroom for some property we camp on years ago. I think it was around $400 at the time, but that was like 15 years ago. We call the septic service to get it pumped out in the fall. Holds around 40 gallons, which is a lot when there's no flushing involved.

    Call around to the rental places, they may have used ones for relatively cheap.

    Here's one, free pickup at your local Wallyworld. Probably better to search locally.


    I guess you can buy anything at Walmart....:R

    Problem is, you still have to have it pumped out. Those don't 'dump' like a normal RV pooper does.

    Better off renting a Loo with the 'Flush, fill and fragrance' service included.
  • Portable toilets don't hold much, less than most RVs.

    We bought a full sized portable restroom for some property we camp on years ago. I think it was around $400 at the time, but that was like 15 years ago. We call the septic service to get it pumped out in the fall. Holds around 40 gallons, which is a lot when there's no flushing involved.

    Call around to the rental places, they may have used ones for relatively cheap.

    Here's one, free pickup at your local Wallyworld. Probably better to search locally.
  • We've been using a port-a-potty for 30 years of camping. We started using one when tent camping, continued using it with the pop-up, and then with 3 different travel trailers.

    Why a port-a-potty in a travel trailer with a perfectly good working bathroom?

    Winter! When the trailer is winterized, we use, exclusively, the port-a-potty and absolutely no water anywhere in the camper, to even run the remote risk of putting any down the sink drains or toilet. Been doing this for 20 years or so now.

    Our port-a-potty is a simple Wall Mart one, that's a white bucket that fits inside a black outer container with a plastic removable toilet seat and a lid that covers everything.

    After use, simply lift the buck out, dump it (wherever) and put it back.

    Of course we rinse ours every time, and put a few ounces of bleach in the bottom (when using it).

    We dump the port-a-potty every day, never miss. And with just the 2 of us, there is never very much, and it never smells. It doesn't sit long enough, and with the bleach, it usually smells strong of bleach (thank goodness).

    As we use the camper at home, in the drive way, pretty much all winter, I take it inside and dump down the inside toilet, flush, and use the bathtub to add a bit of water to rinse, dump down the toilet, and usually rinse a second time, then add a small amount of bleach, take it back to the camper, ready for the next 24 hours.

    In the summer, when we travel with no water in the tanks, we take the port-a-potty with us and use it, instead of the on-board toilet. It doesn't take any water and when we reach our destination, we can dump it there.

    Basically, if we are traveling 'dry' we use the port-a-potty. If we have water in the tanks, which we usually do not, we use the on-board toilet. 99% of the time, we have no water in the fresh tank.

    The biggest problem you will encounter is to find a place to dump the contents of the port-a-potty. If you don't mind hauling it in your vehicle, it's a great alternative.

    You can add chemicals to it also, but personally, I wouldn't want to use someone else's port-a-potty with "stuff" in it already. I don't like the commercial portable out-houses either. Looking down that hole is just ... well ... yuck!
  • Pretty hard to beat a monthly rental on a portable toilet plus, they clean it on a schedule and it comes with TP and hand cleaner/sanitizer too.

    Got a friend in the business, I call it flush, fill and fragrance....:B
  • Porta potty works great for us tailgating with 20 people. No over fills.
  • Where are you going to dump the port-a-potty? They don't hold much.

    Consider doing this---get a used IBC (tote) and a macerator pump. Pump your black tank and/or gray tank into the tote and get a service to come pump it out as needed. Leave the tote on the property.
  • If you don't have family get togethers often I would just rent a commercial maintained one.

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