In the aftermath of a disaster, you never know when it’s safe to go back home. You may have to stay at an evacuation center for days or weeks. Because evacuation centers will be crowded with people from the community, you can expect to share living spaces and facilities.
Evacuation centers are typically community buildings, school gyms, or churches that have enough space for people to set up cots, tents, or sleeping bags. Because schools or churches were not built to house hundreds of evacuees, they won’t have ample bathroom facilities. The local authorities will likely bring in porta-potties to accommodate everyone’s toilet needs.
However, porta-potties are one of the primary sources of disease at evacuation centers. They may not be serviced as often as they should for many reasons. For example, many roads may be inaccessible after a disaster, fuel may be an issue, and the sanitation trucks that suck the sewage out of porta-potty tanks may not arrive for a while.
Sanitation quickly becomes an issue as porta-potties aren’t cleaned, and human feces contaminate the doors, walls, and floors. Porta-potties then become a breeding ground for bacteria and parasites, spreading viruses and causing an outbreak of diarrheal diseases.
Portable Lavatory Systems Can Minimize the Spread of Disease
If people at an evacuation center could use waste bags instead of porta-potties, the risk of spreading germs and bacteria would be minimized immensely. Waste Bag is an industry standard term that stands for ‘Waste Alleviation and Gelling’ Bag.
RESTOP waste bags use a unique blend of polymers and enzymes that convert human waste into a deodorized gel. The RS2 uses a patented triple layer barrier “bag within a bag” design to safely contain and neutralize human waste while the waste activated gelling inside the bag breaks down the waste.
Because natural disasters cause so much chaos and destruction, utilities that have been disrupted will need to be turned off to prevent further damage, including water utilities.
In a disaster situation, water becomes a precious resource, and any reserves of it should be used sparingly. People who can’t wash their hands after every porta-potty use and end up bringing traces of feces into the living spaces and contaminating anything they touch.
In eliminating the risk of spreading disease, each waste bag comes with ample toilet paper and antimicrobial wipe, eliminating the need to use water to wash your hands clean. After use, just throw the wipe directly into the bag, seal it shut, and throw it away at the evacuation center’s designated disposal area.
The RESTOP Portable Lavatory System comes with a pop-up privacy tent, commode with full-size seat with a top-locking gamma lid, and a supply of waste bags. By using portable lavatory systems instead of porta-potties, evacuation centers would no longer have to worry about being so close to raw sewage that will continue to collect in tanks so close to where evacuees eat and sleep.