← Porta potty event quote calculator
Event planners type that question every weekend. Portable sanitation yards get it from the other side: a bride or a festival promoter wants a Saturday special, and the yard has to decide how many boxes to send and what to charge once those boxes sit Friday through Sunday.
This page is a planning starting point, not a health-code table, an ADA determination, or a recommendation of what any event must provide. Local rules and the actual layout of the site always win. Use the quote calculator to price the days, pump-outs, and miles once you have a fleet in mind.
These figures use a common event-planning pattern: more people per restroom on a short event, fewer people per restroom as the day gets longer, and about 20% more restrooms when alcohol is served. They are not a published standard.
| Event length | No alcohol | Alcohol served |
|---|---|---|
| Up to 4 hours | 4 restrooms | 5 restrooms |
| 5–6 hours | 5 restrooms | 7 restrooms |
| 7–8 hours | 7 restrooms | 9 restrooms |
| 9–10 hours | 8 restrooms | 10 restrooms |
| 11–12 hours | 10 restrooms | 13 restrooms |
Whenever restrooms go out, plan on at least one wheelchair-accessible unit (and more than one on a large public site). If food is served, add handwash stations — often about one per four restrooms as a starting split.
Even if four or five units is the right count, pricing them as “200 people × a flat unit price” misses the lines that actually cost the yard:
A $125 Saturday special on five units is $625. On a typical 18-mile two-day wedding with one pump-out, that number is often below cost before overhead.
Price the event in the calculator →Start from the 4-hour or 8-hour row above, depending on how long guests stay, and add a wheelchair-accessible unit. Then price Friday–Sunday, not Saturday only.
Longer events and alcohol both raise the starting count. Peak arrival (a race finish, a concert gate) matters more than average headcount — the calculator does not model surge, so add units if the crowd hits the restrooms at once.
Public events usually need accessible units. This tool does not decide that. It can include wheelchair-accessible units in a quote; whether they satisfy ADA or local rules is a question for the event and a qualified professional.
A common planning starting point is about 4 restrooms for a 4-hour event without alcohol, 7 for an 8-hour event, and about 9 if that 8-hour event also serves alcohol. Add at least one wheelchair-accessible unit. These are planning estimates, not a health-department or ADA determination.
Usually no. Friday drop through Sunday pickup is three calendar days of rent, plus two truck round trips, even if the ceremony is only Saturday afternoon.
A single-day drop-and-pickup often needs no extra service visit. Multi-day rentals usually need a pump-out for each extra day the boxes sit.