With the increasing awareness of the need to save our resources, solar panels have become more and more popular – and appearing in the most unlikely of places.  In America, Portland City Council developed a new type of toilet using solar power (the City even holds the patent for this) – there are 3 solar panels on the roof of each unit and batteries for storing the solar power.  The power runs LED lighting inside and out, as well as the toilet flusher and a heater to insulate water lines.

Other features included within the design combat graffiti and vandalism – they are very durable, standing 10-feet tall, with open slots that show a standing person’s head and feet, allowing police to check for lawbreakers.  The metallic-grey finish is resistant to graffiti and the toilet itself is prison-grade, with no sink to break.  A tiny faucet for hand-washing is outside and a worker cleans the loos twice a day.  Vandals have broken the locks and the flush button, but even the first loo installed in 2008 remains in pretty good shape.

To read more about these toilets, click the link here.

For all your portable sanitation requirements, please contact Davlav here.

When men use a public urinal they are left with nothing to do, as they answer nature’s call.  A British company however has developed a product that can relieve the boredom – a urinal mounted, urine-controlled games console.

The device sits above the normal urinal bowl with the user having three generous targets to aim for: stickers in the unit that read “Start”, “Left” and “Right”.  The console is able to detect where the urine is falling by means of an infra-red device – it is truly ‘hands free’!

Games on offer include a skiing challenge and a multiple choice pub quiz.  The console unit has a 12 inch LCD screen, and sits behind toughened glass – and importantly, can be easily cleaned.

To read more about the device, click the link here.

For all your portable sanitation requirements, please contact Davlav here.

A Chinese inventor has found a novel way of using toilets – toilet manufacturer, Gao Jianguo, salvages unwanted lavatories and turns the cistern lids of the toilets into a portable desk for school children.  Children sit on the toilet bowl (with the lid down!) and use the cistern lid as a desk.

Despite some critics slamming the idea, Gao believes it is a good use of unwanted toilets.  He explained: “We have lots of toilets that we would otherwise throw away.  It is wasteful and if we can find a use for them we should. They are brand new and have never been used so there is no hygiene issue.”

For all your portable sanitation requirements, please contact Davlav here.

Read the full story here.

Davlav is attending the Event Production Show at Olympia, London on Tuesday 1^st and Wednesday 2^nd February.  The Show is the event industry’s annual meeting place, where suppliers can showcase the products and services which help to create fantastic events.  The Show also includes seminars and panel discussion sessions.

We will at stand 640 – please come along and say hello.  We look forward to seeing you there!

For further information about the Show, please click here.

With Christmas Day fast approaching, the Davlav team would like to wish all our clients and suppliers a very happy Christmas and New Year.  Thank you for all your support over the year and we look forward to working with you in 2012.

With very best wishes from Steve and all the team at Davlav

The 11^th World Toilet Summit was hosted in Hainan Province, China during 22-24 November 2011.  The annual summit serves as a platform for discussion on the global sanitation crisis that is affecting billions of people globally.  The Toilet Design Award (TDA) was launched at the 2011 Summit to showcase the improvements in toilet design.  The competition was divided into the three categories – urban, low-cost and tourist area toilets.

Chen Xiaojing, Expert Toilet Designer commented “This competition has demonstrated the application of energy conservation and environmental protection technologies in the design of toilets.  It is of great help in increasing the quality of toilets.  Many designs actively apply solar energy and water collection technology.  In addition, given the conditions in tropical area, the designs of ventilation and lighting are also very creative and green, which can give people a favourable experience when they go to the toilet.”

Among the variety of toilets, one transparent toilet was highlighted during the event.   Although transparent is not always the best aesthetic choice for a toilet, it could save up to 40% more water when flushed.  A 16-year-old girl was awarded for designing a toilet that made sure bathroom goers would flush before leaving, as only the flush button would unlock the toilet door.  In total, over 115 toilet design entries were received by participants in over 15 countries.

For all your portable sanitation requirements, please contact Davlav here.

The Occupy Wall Street demonstrators installed a set of portable toilets near their Lower Manhattan encampment on Friday after residents complained about protesters urinating and defecating in the streets.  The bathrooms will be accessible 24 hours-a-day, with a trained security guard on site, according to Han Shan, a spokesman for the protesters.

“This should be a great help to occupiers who until now, due partly to the city’s refusal to grant permits allowing portable toilets in public spaces near the park, have had no overnight access to toilets,” Shan said in an e-mail.

“Of course, lack of access to sanitation facilities has been a problem for the neighbourhood for a long time before the occupation began, as millions of visitors to the 9/11 Memorial puts a great strain on local businesses’ bathrooms, and the surrounding neighbourhood.”

It was not immediately clear how much the facilities cost, but Shan said the toilets and security were provided by an anonymous donor.

Read the original article here.

For all your portable sanitation requirements, please contact Davlav here.

The Portable Sanitation Association International (PSAI) aims to expand and improve portable sanitation services and facilities worldwide and to be recognized as the authority within the industry.

It is an organization which:

• Is recognized internationally as the credible, authoritative voice of the portable sanitation industry

• Continues to educate the industry, general public and government entities and provides tools to promote safety and health

• Represents international members through a regional network and assists and promotes the setting of standards and services as a repository of information and resources for all.  Through their efforts, the environment is a cleaner, safer place

The portable sanitation industry has developed into a 1.5 billion dollar a year business.  Worldwide, there are an estimated 1,400,000 portable restrooms in use, serviced by a fleet of 9,400 trucks.

For more information on the PSAI, please click this link.

For all your portable sanitation requirements, please contact Davlav here.

There are many theories on where the word ‘loo’ comes from – a few of them are below……

It derives from the term “gardyloo” (a corruption of the French phrase gardez l’eau loosely translated as “watch out for the water!”) which was used in medieval Edinburgh when chamber pots were emptied from a window onto the street.  However the first recorded usage of “loo” comes long after this term became obsolete.

The word comes from nautical terminology, loo being an old-fashioned word for lee.  The standard nautical pronunciation (in British English) of leeward is looward.  Early ships were not fitted with toilets but the crew would urinate over the side of the vessel.  However it was important to use the leeward side – using the windward side would result in the urine blown back on board, hence the phrases ‘pissing into the wind’ and ‘spitting into the wind’.

An early British toilet manufacturer produced a model of cistern named “Waterloo” (in honour of the Battle of Waterloo), and the term derives from ‘going to the Waterloo’, and then abbreviated to simply as ‘going to the `loo’.

Read the original article here.

For all your ‘loo’ requirements, please contact Davlav here.

Rugby World Cup revellers were caught short during opening celebrations at ‘party central’ in Auckland – but this has now been rectified by the installation of portable toilets.

Some areas were reportedly “a sea of human excrement” after the opening night debacle, during which more than 200,000 people poured into downtown Auckland for the World Cup opening celebrations.  Some were crushed at the gates to party central during a three-hour wait – including a woman carted out by paramedics – and several frustrated party-goers jumped the fence.

Problems were compounded by a lack of toilet facilities, and there were limited outlets to buy food and water from.  Add to that a beautiful day bringing out the crowds and everything combined for “a perfect storm”, a bar owner commented.  A 24-hour convenience store manager said he was abused by customers desperate to use the bathroom on opening weekend.  Desperate fans even resorted to relieving themselves off the wharf’s edge, he said.

“There are some horrific stories out there about people trying to break into buildings to use the toilets,” he said.  “People were desperate…..  They’ve learned from that mistake.  Now there are toilets everywhere.”

Read the original article here.

For all your portable sanitation requirements, please contact Davlav here.