BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – With tens of thousands of visitors expected in Burlington for the eclipse on Monday, they’ll all need a place to “go.” Katharine Huntley spoke with port-a-potty companies reaping the benefits of the celestial event.
Portable toilets are being prepped for the big day at Wasted in Williston. It’s a win-win for the company because some of their toilets allow them to separate urine and upcycle it to be used for fertilizer.
And they’ll have plenty of it. The company plans to drop off around 40 toilets around the Champlain Valley ahead of the eclipse.
“For a small team that doesn’t have a bunch of trucks and a bunch of crew members, it’s the kind of thing that stretches us a little bit. But we’re, I think, we’re gearing up for… I think we’ll be ready,” said the company’s Jeffrey Lue.
Other port-a-potty companies we spoke to said the same — not quite sold out but definitely busy. The weather is hampering their efforts this week so they’ll be dropping off most of their toilets between Sunday and Monday.
“We’ve never really worked through an event like this before so it’s really new for us, just kind of taking it one step at a time really, grateful for our customers that are supporting us,” Lue said.
The city of Burlington could double its population on April 8th. Organizers of the Obscura event across the city have ordered 78 toilets in addition to public bathrooms dotted in parks and public buildings around the city.
“From the beginning, we’ve kind of been planning for what we’ve been calling the best worst-case scenario, which is a beautiful sunny day and having tens of thousands of folks come to Burlington. So, we’ve been ready for this from the beginning. So, we’ve had lots of bathrooms in our plan since the start and we are ready for all these folks to join us here in Burlington,” said the city’s Samantha McGinnis.
For people who make the Queen City their “number one” destination for the eclipse, organizers are hoping the port-a-potties are going to meet the need.
Click here for all our eclipse coverage to help you get ready for the big day.