Pit toilets are, to but it bluntly and literally, the pits! Many pit toilets turn out to be far from pleasant to use. Lots of people only resort to them as a last resort, often with good reason! They are too often badly abused and poorly maintained. Even so, they are usually a big improvement over the old-fashioned outhouses our ancestors used to have to deal every day of their lives and are a whole lot easier, more convenient, and safer than digging your own latrine!
With the proliferation of flush toilets why are there still pit toilets around? Well, for one thing, they are a lot less expensive to build and operate than bathrooms with flush toilets. Many remote locations used for camping and riding OHVs are far from any source of water. Septic systems aren't cheap and usually require digging up a lot of otherwise pristine ground. While pit toilets do require more frequent pumping than septic systems, the cost and environmental impact for pit toilets is less than for septic systems. Pit toilets are actually a pretty nice amenity in remote locations.
Boaters often have to go ashore to find sanitation facilities if there are none on their boats. Open boats (like kayaks, canoes, row boats, and many fishing and water skiing boats) do not usually have any onboard sanitation facilities. I suppose you might carry a Porta-potti on a large open boat, but it is not a common occurrence. Finding an appropriate campground when you need one can be difficult and you will not have many other choices once you make land for a needed stop. You will wan to plan ahead when you can. You may find yourself facing an unpleasant encounter with a smelly pit toilet and no where else to go.
Pit toilets are both a boon and a curse for campers. They are certainly a boon when you got to go and there is no place else to do it but we have all likely experienced the curse of badly maintained pit toilets. When tent camping they are pretty much essential but may be optional if you are camping in any kind of an RV with its own sanitary facilities, However, it is always a good idea when RV camping to take advantage of campground toilets whenever you can to minimize filling up your black water tank. You think a pit toilet is foul? Wait until you get a black water back up in your RV! You can walk away from a nasty pit toilet when you are done, but an overflow in your RV will stay with you for months! Once the overflow saturates flooring and other construction materials it is almost impossible to get rid of the bad odor.
The biggest problem with pit toilets is usually the odor. Badly abused or poorly maintained facilities will develop a really nasty smell. Bad odors are, of course, very unpleasant but do not necessarily contribute to transmission of diseases. Unfortunately, abuse and lousy maintenance does frequently contribute to contamination that spreads disease. Sometimes abuse and/or lack of maintenance may lead to really foul soiling of seats and floors. You may be able to mitigate odor problems by ventilating the facility before you use it -- make sure the toilet lid is down and open the door for a while. Lazy or unthinking users often leave the lid up which allows odors to accumulate in the room instead of being vented out through a correctly installed vent pipe that most facilities have. Aerosol air fresheners may also help if you happen to have some with you. To defend against disease, limit your contact with anything inside structure, use seat protectors when available (or strips of toilet paper when there are no seat protectors), then thoroughly wash your hands or at least use hand sanitizer after you are done. Avoid using badly soiled facilities if you can and limit your exposure as much as you can if you have no place else to go. When possible, report bad facilities to the appropriate manager or owner right away so they can schedule additional cleaning and maintenance. If you are really paranoid or just want to be extra safe, wear latex gloves when using public toilets.
Pit toilets are essentially old fashioned out houses. In "the old days" they would dig a new pit and move the outhouse when the old one filled up. While the house I grew up in had indoor plumbing, we also had an outhouse, which was a real blessing when all too frequent power outages in our rural neighborhood left us without water. In today's world most pit toilets are permanently located and usually pumped out and sanitized periodically. In some places you will find portable toilets. However, sometimes the cleaning isn't done nearly often enough and they get really foul smelling. Most modern pit toilets are treated with holding tank chemicals similar to those used in RVs, porta-pottys, and portable toilets. While that does a lot to control odors, hot weather, unusually heavy use, abuse, or a poor maintenance schedule can still make them nasty between cleanings.
Portable toilets are kind of like an outhouse on wheels. Usually they are made of plastic and have a self-contained holding tank beneath the seat. They function just like an outhouse or pit toilet. They are frequently used on construction sites and are often pressed into service at camp grounds and other venues when the expected attendance exceeds to capacity of more permanent facilities. Portable toilets usually don't have any fresh water for washing your hands or flushing. The holding tanks beneath the seat are usually partially filled with chemically treated water that captures the waste, helps control odors, and allows pumping it out. Portable toilets are usually pumped out, cleaned, and sanitized on a regular schedule, but abuse, hot weather, or excessive use might make them unpleasant between cleanings. Many portable toilets these days have a dispenser for hand sanitizer to make them a little safer to use. To be on the safe side, bring your hand sanitizer own along as even those so equipped may run out between servicing.
Developed campgrounds sometimes have fully functional bathrooms with flush toilets. Unfortunately, abuse or poor maintenance often makes them nearly as unpleasant as pit toilets. If you encounter poorly maintained restrooms you should report them to the campground host or manager. When I worked at a resort one summer I had the unpleasant task of unstopping one of our public toilets. Apparently someone had stolen the toilet paper (an all too frequent occurrence!) and someone had used paper towels in the toilet and they REALLY jammed up the plumbing! Kind of a combination of abuse and failed maintenance, although theft of toilet paper isn't really failed maintenance so it might all be attributed to abuse. BTW, NEVER EVER put paper towels or sanitary napkins in any toilet! They will jam flush toilets and compromise pumping or dumping of portable toilets and holding tanks.
Enduring the unpleasantness of a poorly maintained campground toilet may be a lot easier to handle than managing with the consequences of the overflow in an RV holding tank or of having to try to "hold it" or dealing with not being able to "hold it". In most cases even the most unpleasant toilet is a lot faster and sure beats digging and using your own latrine pit!
Bring your own hand sanitizer when using toilets in campgrounds. It won't spare you from the unpleasant smell, but it will help protect you from germs. You might find hand sanitizer dispenser in some facilities, but not always. Wearing a bandana or bringing along a can of air freshener are some ways to help mitigate the odor problem. Sometimes odors result from people leaving the lid up. Closing the lid will help contain odors and allow them to escape through vents that usually extend up through the roof instead of permeating the building interior. Sometimes closing the lid and leaving the door open for a while will purge odors enough to make your own 'stay' more pleasant, or at least tolerable. Then be sure to put the lid down when you leave. After all, YOU might be the next user and it is always good to be considerate of others too!
Lack of toilet paper is a common problem at pit toilets. Unfortunately, selfish people using them often over-use the toilet paper or even steal it, leaving others do to do without. That being said, bring your own if you can. Doing so you also avoid an possible contamination that might have been left careless previous users.
Pit toilets are usually the norm for OHV riding areas, if there are any facilities there at all! The remote locations and often lack of available water leaves little in the way of alternatives. OHV riders aren't likely to be carrying sanitizers or their own toilet paper to overcome some of the pitfalls of pit toilets so they either have to make do with things as they find them or wait until they get back to camp, and even then pit toilets might be all there is unless they have their own fully self contained RV or camper.
If you encounter campground toilets that need cleaning, be sure to report it to the camp host. They may be able to schedule an extra cleaning or more frequent cleaning and servicing.
Far out!
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