Posted: 6/23/2006 7:03:01 PM EDT
Wash. Suffers With Portable Potty Shortage
Jun 23 7:04 PM US/Eastern
SPOKANE, Wash.
When you gotta go, you gotta go, so Inland Northwest companies that supply portable toilets for public events are going at a very fast pace this weekend.
With more than 100,000 people expected to hit the streets for Spokane's Hoopfest 3-on-3 basketball tournament and the Ironman Triathlon 30 miles east at Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, portable toilets are at a premium.
A regional construction boom and a busy weekend for large outdoor weddings also have put added strain on outdoor toilet suppliers.
Summers are the peak season for the portable toilet industry, said Steve Barger, president of Puyallup-based Northwest Cascade Inc., whose Honey Bucket division rents about 1,200 units around the Inland Northwest.
"This year it's as large as it's ever been," he said. "We're seeing a lot of festivals, food fairs and large weddings adding to the demand."
During the weekend, crews will visit each portable toilet, replace toilet paper and check on sanitation. Each evening, another crew will come to the sites to pump out the waste and "refresh" the toilets.
Many units sitting idle this weekend are at construction sites, where a regional building boom has caused a spike in demand, said Sandra Corn of Gotta Go Portable Toilets of Hayden, Idaho.
"Once a toilet has been used on a construction site, you don't want to put it anywhere but a construction site," she said. "You wouldn't take one of those toilets and send it to a wedding."
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