Portables have increasingly taken on a larger role in the localized response to homelessness. As public health concerns over water quality persist and intensify, public officials increasingly find themselves turning to the portable sanitation industry for relief. PROs can approach this as both a new market and a means to give back to their respective communities. If your community is struggling with homelessness, consider approaching local officials with this sampling of projects and test programs:

• The Clifton (New Jersey) Historic Botany District recently concluded a test period providing public portables in order to cut down on public urination in the city’s botany section. Preliminarily the experiment has been successful with the one portable restroom seeing frequent use according to NorthJersey.com. However the program is unpopular with local residents, many of whom complained and successfully forced the removal of another test portable before the test was completed.

• The City of Modesto, California, also is providing portables for homeless individuals but rather than in high-traffic areas, the portables are being placed in established homeless encampments. ABC TV-10 reports that the city contracts the portables and servicing as a means to improve public health, but city officials stress that the solution is only temporary.

• An amendment has been proposed in Beaverton, Oregon, to provide exceptions to it’s homeless camping ban. Currently the ordinance makes no allowances for homeless encampments on commercial or public parking lots. The amendment would allow commercial parking lots to establish such camps if they met the requirements of a pilot program, according to Fox KPTV-10. The pilot program outlines the need for portable sanitation at the sites, including porta-potties and hand-washing stations.

• City officials in Miami recently dedicated a new public restroom after successfully completing a pilot program with portables. The new restroom features flushing toilet, hand-wash station and needle disposal unit, and has an attendant on duty for 12 hours daily. The city is already considering the addition of a second unit, the Miami Herald reports.
• The Echo Park Pit Stop is the newest in municipal responses to homeless encampments. The pit stop is a station made up of portable toilets, hand-washing stations and needle disposal containers, installed six months ago by the City of Echo Park, California. The Eastsider reports that the six-month trial was so successful the city recently voted to add an additional three pit stops throughout the city.
• In related news, the Austin City Council recently approved a contract with Blue Chem Inc. to service the city’s only downtown portable toilet. The contract is for an initial two-year period for $330,000, with an optional extension to five years and totaling $775,000, according to the Austin Monitor. The contract approval is the latest in Austin’s attempts to combat public urination.

Oklahoma sheriff launches environmental investigation unit

In other news, the McClain County (Oklahoma) Sheriff’s Office recently launched an environmental investigation unit with a $50,000 grant from the state’s Department of Environmental Qualities as reported by the Purcell Register. A deputy will be charged with patrolling the jurisdiction with a specially made trailer featuring two portable toilets. The officer will clean up illegal dumpsites and waterways, stop illegal trash burning, and address other environmental issues.

The portables are meant for workers at cleanup sites and were donated by Clint Grinstead of First Class Portable Toilets in Davis, Oklahoma. Grinstead is also providing free weekly maintenance of the units. Read more about the community cleanup efforts here.