00:00 Porta-potties are necessary for large events like the Taste of Chicago, where service sanitation Inc. provided 380 regular porta-potties, 28 wheelchair accessible porta-potties, and 80 hand washing stations to accommodate the million people attending.

04:52 Porta-potties are self-contained units that are serviced by vacuum trucks, which suck out the contents and transport them to waste treatment plants.

09:43 During World War II, fighter pilots had to come up with ways to go to the bathroom during long flights, leading to the invention of the elson, a primitive chemical toilet that often spilled its contents during turbulence.

14:14 The invention of the elson toilet during World War II, which was a chemical toilet that often spilled its contents, eventually led to the creation of the porta potty, a self-contained unit that is beneficial to public health and saves water.

19:02 The evolution of the porta potty led to the creation of the strongbox, a fiberglass portable toilet that had drawbacks such as being dark inside, not stackable, and prone to odors and breakage, but was later improved with the use of polyethylene and a ventilation system.

23:55 George Harding improved porta potties by creating a pipe to vent gases out of the toilet, making them more pleasant to use, and later improvements included translucent white rooftops, non-slip flooring, and separate urinals.

28:47 Porta potties use blue dye to visually mask the presence of human feces and are generally not used for pooping in public places.

33:24 Porta-potties use fragrance additives, biosides, and enzymes to mask odors, kill bacteria, and break down waste, but extreme temperatures can make the smell worse and frozen waste is the worst to deal with.

38:04 Porta-potties need to be cleaned out by porta potty service people, who often find all sorts of things left behind, including phones, wallets, cash, jewelry, drugs, and even guns, and the worst case scenario for these service people is if a porta potty gets knocked over or tips over on its door, causing all of the waste to spill out and making for a very difficult and time-consuming cleaning process.

42:40 Porta potty service people have important jobs, as they make money, provide for their families, defend public health, and save water.