$115K contract proposed to clean one Austin portable toilet

kxan ^ | Oct. 3, 2018 | Wes Wilson

[bgill]

The Austin City Council on Thursday will vote on whether to approve a contract to clean and empty a single portable toilet in the downtown area. The cost? A minimum of $115,000 per year. The contract will initially be for two years, with the ability for it to be reauthorized each year thereafter for a total of five years at a cost not to exceed $775,000, or $155,000 per year. The portable toilet would be located within five miles of the State Capitol and must be cleaned twice a day, including refilling water and removing waste because it does not have its own plumbing.

[Delta 21]

Gotta have a special truck for this job. Its a complicated process.

[sheana]

We have a sailboat with a 25 gallon waste tank. I call a guy and he comes and sucks it all out for $10 a pop. Then he takes his big tank down to the end of the dock and sucks it all out for $0 dollars. Heckuva racket....but I’ll gladly pay him not to do it myself. I have it done every 2 weeks so maybe $240 a year. I think they’re getting hosed my guy would do it a lot cheaper. 😂

[cymbeline]

“Still going to have to clean it a couple of times a day.”

I’m still thinking about this. $115k sounds high for any reasonable toilet setup.

How have we gone for hundreds of years without the need for toilets for street people?

I’m now picturing a outhouse affair with the bottom connected to a sewer line and that can be cleaned by simply hosing it down. It would be flushable.

Perhaps the outhouse could have a side opening allowing an attendant to drive by, open the door, hose it down through the opening, and do this without getting out of his vehicle.

[Wuli]

The contract is like saying the work will involve 8 hours every day of the year at a cost of about $39 an hour.

Which city council persons has the waste disposal contractor made contributions to, or has pledged contributions to?

[Lazamataz]

Much better idea: Create a public toilet hooked into the sewer and water system.

One half the price, or less.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

The contract calls for twice daily cleaning, and refreshing the fluids, apparently soap and some water. I assume they must have hand towels as well.