Porta Potty Rental for Fun Runs, 5Ks and Car Shows

Why do races need more porta potties than the chart says?

Because the standard chart averages use over the whole event, and runners do not use toilets on average. They use them all at once.

The planning chart from the Portable Sanitation Association International sizes an order by average crowd and average hours on site (PSAI):

Those numbers work when people arrive and leave at different times. At a race, most participants arrive in the hour before the gun, and most want a toilet one last time before they line up.

Here is the arithmetic for a 1,000-person fun run. It is a planning illustration, not a rule or a published standard.

• The chart gives 6 units for 1,000 people over 2 hours.
• Suppose half the field wants a toilet in the last 45 minutes. That is 500 visits.
• If each visit takes about a minute including the door, one unit handles about 45 people in that window. [Our assumption for illustration]
• Six units handle about 270 visits. The other 230 people are still in line when the race starts.

Our advice: treat the chart as the floor and size the start area for the pre-race window. Work out how many people you expect in the last 45 minutes and order enough units to move that many. On the example above, that means roughly double the chart figure. A late start because of toilet lines also pushes back your road closure, which the city has timed.

Other race-day factors:

• Staggered starts help. A half marathon at 7:00 and a 5K at 7:30 split the surge in two.
• Spectators and volunteers are extra. Count them separately.
• Beer garden at the finish. PSAI says to add 10 to 20% more units when alcohol is served.

Our porta potty calculator gives the chart baseline. Call us to talk through the surge.

Where do units go at the start, on the course and at the finish?

When start and finish are in the same place, one large group serves both. On a point-to-point course you need two groups.

Every unit on the course is a separate stop for our truck, at a spot that may sit inside the closure. Mark each one on the course map with a street address or cross streets. Units on a sidewalk or road shoulder also need the city's approval, covered below.

When are the units delivered for an early start?

Usually the day before. Our office hours are 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and many races start at 7 or 7:30 a.m. with roads closing earlier. Day-before placement means the units are standing when your setup crew arrives in the dark.

1. Afternoon before: we deliver and set the units where your map shows. Someone from your team should meet the driver or mark the spots with cones or paint.
2. Overnight: units sit in place. You can padlock a unit overnight with your own lock. Leave it unlocked, or give us the combination, on service day.
3. Race morning: your crew opens them and checks the paper.
4. After the last finisher: we pick up once roads reopen, that day or the next, depending on the schedule.

If a unit must sit in the street overnight, your permit has to cover that period too. If a pre-dawn delivery is the only option, ask us.

What permits cover street closures and units in the road?

A run on public streets needs the city's event permit, and anything placed in the street, sidewalk or parkway needs an encroachment permit or equivalent approval. The portable toilets are listed inside the event application. They do not get their own permit.

Wine country runs are a common case. The Temecula Half Marathon, 10K and 5K is listed as a run through Temecula Valley that finishes at Wilson Creek Winery (race listing). Wine country is unincorporated, so on roads there the county's rules apply, not the city's. Our permit guide links to each form. We can give you our company details, unit counts and delivery and pickup times for the application.

How are car shows and cruise nights different?

People stay for hours and wander. There is no surge, so the PSAI chart fits well. Size by the number of people on site at the busiest point and the length of the show. For 500 people the chart gives 5 units for a four-hour show and 9 for eight hours. For 1,000 people it gives 8 and 12.

The local shows give a sense of the range. The City of Temecula's Rod Run fills Old Town Front Street with a Friday night cruise and a Saturday show from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (City of Temecula). The City of Murrieta's Father's Day Car Show runs from 2 to 8 p.m. at California Oaks Sports Park (City of Murrieta). Those are city-run events. Most shows we hear from are smaller: a club show in a shopping-center lot, a church or school fundraiser, a weekly cruise night outside a restaurant.

Parking-lot shows. Get the property owner's written permission and ask which stalls you can give up. Put the units at the edge of the lot, off the fire lane, where our truck can reach them without driving through the show cars.

Old Town-style street shows. The street is closed and lined with cars, so units go on a side street or in a public lot at each end. Shop restrooms are for customers and will not carry the crowd. On a two-day show, units need service between days, early, before cars roll in.

Weekly cruise nights. A single standard unit and a hand-wash station left on site with weekly service can cost less than a delivery and pickup every week.

How can a charity organizer keep the cost down?

Most fun runs and many car shows raise money for a cause, and the toilets come out of the proceeds. A few things lower the bill without leaving people in line:

• One site for start and finish. One group of units, one delivery stop.
• Share with the venue. Use the park or school restrooms for the finish festival and put the rented units at the start.
• Book early. Book a week or more ahead when you can. Spring and fall weekends fill first. We take short-notice orders whenever units are available.
• Ask a sponsor to cover sanitation. It is a small, specific line item that is easy to underwrite.

Event pricing depends on unit count, delivery stops and service visits. Event rentals start at $189 per unit. We quote one total with delivery, service and pickup included and add no fuel or environmental surcharges. See pricing.

Do I need accessible units?

Yes, at least one in every group. The California Building Code requires that 5% of clustered portable toilets, and never fewer than one, be accessible (CBC §11B-213.2). Murrieta and Lake Elsinore ask for 10% on their event applications, and Murrieta wants units on a level area with no more than a 2% cross-slope.

For a race, that means an ADA-accessible unit at the start and one at the finish, on pavement, at the front of the row.

Race and car show FAQ

Can units sit on a public sidewalk or in a parking lane? Only with the city's approval, normally through the event permit and an encroachment permit.

Do I need hand-wash stations? Yes wherever food is served, including a pancake breakfast or finish-line snacks. Add a hand-wash station at each group of toilets.

Our race is in two weeks. Is that too late? We offer same-day and next-day delivery, so the units are rarely the problem. The city permit is. Call us and your city the same day.

Where do you deliver? Temecula, Murrieta, Lake Elsinore, Menifee, Wildomar, Hemet and Perris, along with our other service areas. For other event types, see the event rental hub, community events or sports tournaments.

Get a quote for your race or car show

Call (951) 517-3600 or send the form with your date, start time, expected registrations or show cars, and a course or site map if you have one. We will reply with a unit count for the start, course and finish and one full price.