Hi Thulasi,

I have arranged to interview the engineering team at my local Waste Water Treatment Plant for the Get Flushed podcast.  The plant they operate here in NZ receives tankered waste from portable toilets and septic tanks as well as septic waste from the sewer.  

The waste is discharged from the trucks through some fairly high tech equipment that measures volume, Biological Oxygen Demand and Total Suspended Solids.  From there, the waste is mixed with waste from the mains sewers and goes on to be processed and treated.  The treated water is discharged into the ocean through an outlet several kilometres off shore.

I have two or three weeks to get ready for the interviews and expect to publish those episodes in September.  Let me know if you have any specific questions that you'd like me to ask.  In the meantime, you can learn more about the portable toilet industry and the people in it by listening to my podcast at www.getflushed.online  

Pete

Hello everyone,

As an early stage researcher , this  discussion about portable toilets is bringing my attention towards portable sanitation concepts ... the  difference between portable toilets and portable sanitation ..

If it’s a portable toilet in a developed nation , I assume the treatment of and disposal may be done at central treatment facility ... but what is the scenario in developing countries ? How about the treatment of stored waste streams ? 
I am curious about the options followed in both developed and developing countries ... 

Thank you 

Best regards 
Thulasi 

Kia ora Elizabeth,

Thats a huge conversation!  Pretty much everyone in my industry (portable toilets) uses the term Portable Sanitation to refer to what we do.  The main industry body is even called the Portable Sanitation Association International.  I'm happy to admit that talking with Alice has completely made me rethink my paradigm.  My industry typically provides portable toilets as a convenience.  Hers provides portable toilets as a basic necessity.  I don't know that I'd really thought about that before. Hope we can talk more.

Hi Pete,
Nice to see another "kiwi" here! We only have 23 SuSanA members from New Zealand ( forum.susana.org/forum/statistics?statsview=2 ) and I think Dean Satchell is our only active forum contributor from New Zealand to date. So a warm welcome to you!

I have a question regarding how you define "portable sanitation"? Shouldn't it be rather "portable toilets" as sanitation is so much more and cannot be "portable" in all senses (e.g. what is "portable hygiene", "portable solid waste management" etc.)?

See here a previous discussion on the definition of sanitation: 
forum.susana.org/discussions-about-speci...-article-accordingly

And the Wikipedia article on "portable toilets" (which is probably in need of expansion):
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portable_toilet

Regards,
Elisabeth

Hi Alice, 

Thank you for your very kind words.   I am using the early episodes of the show to set the scene, but my concept for the show is definitely geared around the PEOPLE in the business, so yes please I would love to talk to your colleagues!

I have the equipment to record over the phone/zoom/FaceTime etc.  Could you email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. so we can talk more?

Pete

Hi Peter, great Podcast! Finally one about Sanitation, I'm a fan. 
Have you considered inviting sanitation practitioners from around the world virtually as guests to share their experiences? 
I know my colleagues in Uganda, Pakistan und Jordan would be delighted to talk with you about the work they are currently doing on sanitation in mosques, schools and hospitals including FSM. 
Let me know if you're interested

Best regards
Alice 

Hello everyone,

I previously worked as a portable sanitation manager from New Zealand.  In that role, I managed the regional sanitation response following the 7.8 earthquake in Kaikoura in November 2016.

I’d like to invite you to tune into Get Flushed - the portable sanitation podcast. Get Flushed is the first and only weekly podcast  to explore the global portable sanitation industry from the perspective of its suppliers, operators, staff, customers and users. The show is free and new episodes air each Saturday at 6.00pm GMT on all the usual podcast platforms.

podcasts.apple.com/nz/podcast/get-flushe...podcast/id1512664855

I’m happy to share my ideas and experiences from the world of portable sanitation.  

Peter