Fwd: fw: request for information from PSAI

[Emily Fisher]

cool!

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: milli...@psai.org <milli...@psai.org>
Date: Mon, Dec 19, 2011 at 5:54 PM
Subject: re: fw: request for information from PSAI
To: efi...@seas.upenn.edu


Ms. Fisher,

Your email was forwarded to my office.  There are numerous venues wherein portable restroom equipment is in use.  Our industry provides and services equipment for private, commercial, municipal, emergency management and military - and all sub areas in each of those segments.  There are 3 general types of design:  static (drop tank), fresh flush and recirculating flush and each has its own customer base.  Within these types of design, the manufacturer may also provide a larger design size and may also manufacturer an ADA compliant unit. Some fresh water and recirculating units may utilize a porcelain type commode instead of the molded toilet-tank.  Trailer units are a whole different type of portable restroom unit and of design.

The modern portable sanitation industry began in the 1940's in the California shipyards during World War II.  The first units were wooden structures with a slide-in holding tank.  With the technological advances in material use, wooden structures gave way to fiberglass, then to the more used poly units.   With the advancement of health codes, non-porous materials are now required in manufacturing design and the wooden units, which are porous, were eliminated.  The earliest archeological portable toilet find was a 4-sided sudan chair used in the Roman market for shoppers who couldn't make it home!

There are approximately 3,400 portable restroom operating companies world-wide.  These companies use approximately 1,400,000 portable restrooms (trailer units are not part of this number) serviced by a fleet of 9,400 trucks.  This is a 1.5 billion dollar a year industry.  There are ANSI standards that are industry-specific and there are sanitary servicing requirements based on use.  

Without knowing which direction your research project is heading, providing mounds of irrelevant information would just be mean.  If you have specific questions or you need greater clarification on this industry, please do not hesitate to call my office.  I would me more than happy to talk to you.

  

D. Millicent Carroll
Portable Sanitation Association International
Industry/Regulatory Standards
& Certification Board Member
Tel:  952-854-8300  •  800-822-3020
E-mail:  milli...@psai.org
Web site:  www.psai.org

This message is intended only for the use of the individuals to whom, or entity to which, it is addressed and may contain information that is privileged, confidential and exempt from disclosure under applicable law. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient or the employee or agent responsible for delivering the message to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution, or copying of this communication is prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by replying to this email.

---

From: "Emily Fisher" <efi...@seas.upenn.edu>
Sent: Saturday, December 10, 2011 12:38 PM
To: in...@psai.org
Subject: request for information from PSAI

Dear Mr. & Ms. Carroll,

We are Master's students at the University of Pennsylvania embarking on a research project about portable toilets: design, usage, and distribution channels.  We were wondering if you have any literature on data or statistics for the industry that you would be willing to share with us.  Any quantitative information would be greatly appreciated.  Suggestions about what other people or organizations we might contact would also be welcomed.  Alternatively, we're also available by phone at 732 977 2042.

Thank you so much for your time and any guidance you can offer.

Best,

Emily Fisher

[Emily Fisher]

Ms. Carroll,

Thank you so much for your thorough and enthusiastic response!  It would be invaluable to have you as a resource as we embark on our research.  We are particularly interested in the static (drop tank) design segment which you've described, but also open to integrating elements from the two other design types.

We'd really like to get some information on the industry standards required of all portable restrooms so that we know what design constraints are put on any innovation in the field.  Is there any way you could point us to the ANSI standards or any other industry standards that would help us develop a list of these constraints?

The bit of historical information you mentioned is also very interesting-- we'd like to draw inspiration in the restroom cultures of other countries and perhaps earlier times (as with the porous wooden structures you described), so any resources that you could share on these topics would be helpful as well.

Lastly, could you point us to any information on the manufacturing of the units?  Are there many manufacturers of the units, or just a handful of major ones?  Do the distributors of the units sometimes manufacture their own, or are these two separate segments of the industry?

I hope you don't mind this big mess of questions.  Your first email was incredibly helpful to us and any more information you could offer would be welcomed.

Thank you again!  Happy Holidays and I hope you have a wonderful new year.

Best,

Emily