JAG Mobile Solutions’ latest modular portable restroom offering incorporates vacuum flushing, hot water and HVAC. This new technology is called the Pilot & Drone. While this might conjure images of autonomous flying machines, it’s more like a queen bee overseeing the work of many drone bees.
Bill Gibson, president of JAG Mobile Solutions, explains that “Pilot” units are three-stall restrooms equipped with onboard waste-disposal, freshwater and HVAC capabilities. The “Drone” three-stall restrooms do not have the vacuum equipment on board, but can be daisy-chained to the Pilots to share these technologies.
4-by-8-foot Pilot units are equipped with freshwater flush toilets and a sink providing hot water, as well as onboard integrated vacuum pumps that flush directly into sewer lines when available. Otherwise, wastewater can flow to a holding tank to be trucked away later.
Drone units are identical to Pilots, but without vacuum systems. Drones, as well as any available toilet, shower or combo unit with the same hookups, connect to Pilots via 3-inch vacuum cams. Up to 12 additional stalls can be connected to each Pilot.
According to Gibson, vacuum-assist flush systems require less water than gravity-flush systems. Also, during inclement weather, the included HVAC systems prevent pipe-freezing. The technology provides advantages “when events and venues are focused on patron comfort including interior climate control [and] hot water for improved site hygiene,” Gibson says.
The Pilot & Drone is modular so an adjustable number of Pilots and daisy-chained Drones can be placed at a central location, or multiple Pilots – with or without Drones – can be distributed out across a job site or venue.
According to Gibson, vacuum technology allows PROs to clean and maintain units more efficiently, especially during busy events where vacuum truck access could be challenging. He says they also could potentially lower costs associated with pumping by dumping directly into a sewer line. “So the waste disposal, depending on where you are, might be zero,” Gibson says.
The Pilot & Drone have gone through an internal testing phase. One notable customer has been Formula 1 Racing, where a Pilot — along with JAG’s new ADA-compliant restroom — were deployed at the November 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix.
“The responses we’ve gotten back from our customer was that there were zero defects,” Gibson says. “Our customer [wanted vacuum systems], and they needed a simple ADA add-on to our existing system that was climate-controlled.”
800-815-2557; www.jagmobilesolutions.com
