Whether you’re planning an intimate outdoor wedding or a large outdoor music festival, there’s one important question every event planner has to ask: How many portable restrooms do I need.
Our portable restroom usage chart gives a basic breakdown of determining the number of portable restrooms needed at a special event. Please keep in mind that certain factors may skew this chart. Below is a list of questions to consider when determining your final numbers.
Will alcohol be served?
If alcohol is being served at your event, we recommend adding an additional 15-20% to the total number of portable restrooms needed for your event.
Are you serving food?
According to state regulations, it is mandatory to set up portable restrooms and hand washing facilities in designated zones near food service areas, but not immediately adjacent to them. The specific quantity of these facilities depends on the rules established by the state, county, or local authorities. It’s important to note that food preparation and service areas may have specific stipulations. Hand washing facilities for these areas cannot be limited to simple hand sanitizers due to the requirement of maintaining food hygiene standards. For further details on these guidelines, it’s recommended to reach out to your local health department. In case you’re hosting an event with a more formal nature, such as a wedding, our deluxe trailers with elegant wood trim might pique your interest. These trailers are particularly fitting for upscale occasions where guests anticipate a higher level of facility quality.
Are there any additional permanently built restrooms available on site?
Take into account any existing on-site or permanently constructed restrooms within the event premises. Evaluate their capacity in relation to the anticipated number of attendees they can cater to. It’s advisable to assess the condition of the on-site restrooms. If they fall short of your expectations or are inconveniently located in relation to the event area, opting for portable restrooms would be a prudent choice.
Who’s Coming to the Event?
It is important to consider your guests when planning the type and number of portables. Kids, and especially infants, will have different needs than adults. If you have a large number of older people at the event, many of them might need more accessible restrooms. If that is the case, you will want to go beyond the minimum requirement from the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and get more ADA Accessible Restrooms.
How large is the event space?
If event space is a problem for a large number of portables, then perhaps an alternative to reducing the number of portables is an increase in the service/cleaning of the portables during the day of the event. If the units are serviced twice during each day of the event, you can cut the number required in half. If the portable restrooms are serviced three times a day, you can cut it to a third. You may have to pay a premium for the additional services but when the choice is more parking for paying patrons or more portable toilets the additional business could be worth the expense.
It’s also important to note that our air-conditioned restroom trailers can substitute for up to 30 portable restrooms. Consider a combination of the two. A few portables placed near the trailers allow for shorter lines, especially for those who may have an urgent need! A few portables placed strategically near parking areas are always appreciated as well.
Our air-conditioned restroom trailers also make a great all-in-one package for intimate gatherings, such as a wedding or outdoor party.
Best Spots to Place Your Portable Restroom for Events
When placing your portable restrooms, it’s essential to keep functionality and guest comfort in mind. Use these tips to help you determine the best placement for your portable restroom. The last thing anyone wants is for a guest to trip or twist an ankle on a rock, stick, or depression when exiting the portable.
Stay Grounded for Safety
This one is crucial. Placing your portable restroom on level ground is essential to the safety and comfort of your guests. Placing the rental on irregular ground can cause tipping and wobbling for guests – making for an unpleasant experience.
Near Concessions
It is usually best to have the portables in plane site. Placing your portable restrooms near concessions is a concern unless there is some distance between them. Your porta-potties don’t need to be right by where food and drinks are being served but should be located within a short walking distance to avoid discomfort for guests.
Check the Weather
Is there a possibility of high wind during your event? If so, we suggest placing the portables in groups, back-to-back, for added stability in high winds. Otherwise, we recommend securing your rentals by placing them along a wall or other structure. This will prevent it from catching wind and shaking, or even worse becoming airborne! It’s also important to check for rain and ensure that the ground you place your portable restroom on won’t become a large puddle or surrounded by standing water if a downpour occurs.
Choose a Central Location
Who likes walking around frantically looking for a restroom? Likely, not your guests. That’s why you should look to place portable restrooms somewhere that can be easily seen and found. At the same time, you don’t want your portable restroom to be the focal point of your event. That’s why we suggest central placement in the middle and scattered along the edges of your venue.
Keep It Accessible
Accessibility is key to a good portable restroom placement. Not only do you want to make sure guests can easily get to the location, but it’s also important to make sure our drivers can deliver and pick up safely (without getting stuck, falling into an unmarked septic tank, etc).
Next time you’re planning an event, use these tips to ensure the safety and happiness of eventgoers.
Still have questions? We’re happy to help. Contact us today at 1-800-553-2213 and we can design a custom portable restroom plan that’s the right fit for your event’s needs.
20 Comments
I was talking to a good friend of mine the other day about her interest in getting a portable toilet while planning an event. She wants to know how many she will need for this to be made easier. I think she would appreciate knowing that the size of the event space will largely dictate the answer to this question.
I find it interesting that if alcohol is involved in the event you should add around 15% more portable toilets to your event. My sister is having an outdoor wedding in a few months and is wanting to get portable toilets for her guests. I’ll have to look into the best company that we can get these from.
I like what you said about making sure there are enough portable restrooms at your event but not having them too close to the food and food prep areas. My friend is running a large outdoor event and wants to make sure everyone can relieve themselves and also not have to worry about food contamination. Thanks for the information about setting up things this way and also adding hand-washing stations.
I really like the benefit of a temperature controlled portable toilet, especially in a portable toilet trailer! One of the big turn offs for a portable toilet for me has been how hot they can get in the summer, especially at our local fair each year! If I was in charge of planning our county fair, I would be sure to invest in temperature controlled portable toilets to make the patrons more comfortable!
My sister is having a wedding party with a ton of people, and she put me in charge of renting the portable toilets. Your article had some great tips for knowing how many porta potties you’ll need for a certain amount of people, and I liked how you said to add about 20% more toilets if serving alcohol. Thanks for the help; I’ll keep this in mind when renting about 3 porta potties.
I like that you suggested placing a portable near the trailer to reduce lines. I will suggest this to my best friend to ensure that they will place things in an organized way. They will be receiving 200 guests for their wedding, so this tip will be very useful.
My husband and I are wanting to rent portable toilets for our family reunion to avoid family members going in and out of our home. Thank you or pointing out that the number of people attending will help determine that amount of porta potties you need. I’ll have to do some research and find the best company in my area to supply theses toilets for me.
It’s really interesting how you said that you should add up to 20% more portable toilets if you have alcohol at the event you are planning. We have a son who is getting married soon and we are considering having alcohol. It’s good to know that we should get some more toilets if we decide to buy some to have while celebrating.
Interesting read, same way we do it from across the pond.
I liked what yous aid about considering the size of the event space when renting a portable toilet. My sister is thinking about getting a few of these for a party she’s hosting this coming summer. I think that I’ll bring this up with her so that she knows how many she could feasibly fit in the area and adjust accordingly.
Thanks for the chart. That is really helpful. I will have alcohol at my event and I didn’t know you would probably need more because of it. I will be sure to rent additional porta pottys.
It’s actually insightful to find the question if alcohol will be served to my dinner party as you stated to know how many portable toilets I need to rent since they might end up needing to use it to relieve themselves. I do agree that I have to assess how large the event space is as you pointed out so that I’ll know which spaces will need a toilet spot as well. Since you said that I have to think bigger if I’m going to serve food, I’ll ask any services available as to how many toilets they will recommend for a spicy food buffet selection as well.
I appreciate your tips for renting toilets for an event. We’re hoping to rent a good amount for our outdoor wedding, so this is helpful. I’ll be sure to add 20% onto the total number of bathroom we’ll need because we are serving alcohol!
Thanks for sharing this information.
It’s interesting how you mentioned adding about 15-20% more portable restrooms for your event if alcohol will be served. My friend was wondering how many portable restrooms to rent for her event. She had a good idea of what to choose, but I think that knowing alcohol could change that, she’ll probably adjust her original count.
Thanks for sharing that we must add more when we have alcohol for the event, and we must add at least 20% of the total number of the restrooms needed. I guess that is true since drinking beverages like that make you pee more than the usual. With that in mind, we should rent portable restrooms at our wedding since we will have lots of them in the reception area.
It is really interesting that if you are going to have alcohol at the event that you need to up the amount of toilets that you get by 15-20%. This will be very useful for my brother’s bachelor party. I will be sure to let him know about how many toilets he will need and probably help him find a professional to get them from.
I never took into account the fact that if alcohol is being served at your event, you would need to consider an additional percentage of portable toilets for the event. I would say that this makes sense because your body will need to release liquids after drinking more than you normally do on a daily basis. Thanks for the advice about thinking on renting an air-conditioned restroom trailer if it’s a more private event.
Great post! Thanks for sharing this informative post. I really enjoyed reading this post and love the information you shared here. I am glad found this helpful post. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for stating that if alcohol is being served at your event, you should add an additional 15-20% to the number of portable restrooms needed. My sister is having an outdoor wedding where there are no bathrooms, so she’s been thinking of getting portable toilets. I will definitely pass along all of your great tips and information to my sister.