Why use a portable toilet?
There are many benefits to using a portable toilet for camping in your van or small RV.
1. More options for disposing the waste
We used a standard foot pedal to flush the toilet. We were living in our Class A motorhome, which empties into an onboard black tank. When we wanted to empty our fixed-capacity black tank, the process for doing so was described here. We had to take our RV to a dump station since there weren’t any campgrounds nearby that had sewage disposal. We can easily transport the portable toilet’s little waste tank to the closest restroom or dump station by detaching it and walking it there.
2. It’s Clean and Easy to Dump (Sometimes)
Empty the contents of the portable toilet into a regular toilet and flush it away. At a friend’s place, I’ll turn on the fan to be safe. But if you’re using a high-quality deodorizer like this one, there shouldn’t be much of a stench. There will also be zero splashing if everything is done correctly.
The narrow aperture of a dump station or RV sewage drain, measuring only four inches wide, might make disposal a challenge. If this is my only choice, I’ll empty the tank halfway through. Its contents, and be extra careful to match up the holding tank’s vent with the sewer drain.
3. Use it where you want to.
We started using a cassette toilet aboard our first Class B van. Our van’s permanently installed toilet is drained into a portable cassette tank rather than a black tank. We just unzipped the cassette, which resembled a suitcase, and carried it to the closest restroom or dump station whenever we wanted to use the restroom. However, due to its permanent mounting on the camper, we were unable to transfer our toilet when we changed vehicles. This is easily remedied with portable toilets, which can be transported anywhere—even in the family SUV on a lengthy road trip—to accommodate children who may have an increased need to use the restroom.
4. Less expensive than many other options.
It’s easy to lose track of how much money you’ve spent on RV toilets and other RV accessories. Expenses for portable restrooms during an evacuation may add up quickly, depending on your preferences. We spent over $1,000 for the cassette toilet option in our pop-up truck camper, and composting toilets are priced similarly. For smaller campsites and vans, the majority of portable toilets are far more affordable.
5. It’s a great backup toilet.
Our RV isn’t the only place we use our porta potty, either; there are plenty of other places to put them to use as well. In the event that your home’s water pump stops working due to a power outage or a natural catastrophe like a storm or earthquake, these toilets may serve as a backup system.
