Mobile Toilets During the Shanghai Epidemic

Mobile toilets played a crucial role during the Shanghai epidemic, with multiple companies actively providing them and incorporating various epidemic prevention features, while also formulating relevant norms to ensure safe usage.

Supply of Mobile Toilets

During the Shanghai epidemic, multiple companies responded proactively, supplying mobile toilets to various locations such as isolation and treatment sites, and traffic hub inspection points. For instance, Shanghai Huajie Company provided over 1,000 mobile toilets, covering multiple districts including Xuhui, Jiading, and Pudong. Shanghai Lehuan Environmental Technology Co., Ltd. dispatched mobile toilets with over 1,700 toilet positions and 190 handwashing stations to support the construction of isolation and treatment sites at the Pudong Expo and New International Expo Center. Later, they urgently deployed an additional 600 toilet positions to support newly built makeshift hospitals in Xuhui and Pudong Zhangjiang, Shanghai.

Epidemic Prevention Features and Technologies of Mobile Toilets

• "Unmanned Toilets": These toilets clean themselves 6 to 10 minutes after a user leaves. The toilet rotates and hides into a rear chamber for cleaning and disinfection, while another cleaned and disinfected toilet rotates out for use. The integrated cleaning push plate on the floor extends to clean and disinfect the floor, and the disinfection machine at the top releases ozone to disinfect the toilet space.
• Negative Pressure Design Toilets: Equipped with air intake vents and sterilization systems, these toilets use positive oxygen ions generated by ion tubes to kill bacteria, combining with odor molecules to form odorless compounds. Negative oxygen ions freshen the air, and the treated gas is harmlessly discharged outdoors to prevent cross-infection. The flushing system employs vacuum technology to prevent splashing of waste or water.
• Prefabricated Emergency Mobile Toilets: These toilets integrate innovative technologies such as shape construction, water and energy conservation, cleaning and disinfection, and ventilation and deodorization. Molded in one piece, they are sturdy, durable, and lightweight, allowing for mobile setup as needed. The smooth wall panels are easy to clean, and the internal facilities are simple and practical. The toilet is equipped with a sewage pipe and a fecal storage tank at the bottom, meeting the requirements for centralized disinfection of excreta in emergency situations and effectively preventing virus transmission through the fecal-oral route.

Normative Usage and Safety Guarantees of Mobile Toilets

Relevant companies have formulated specialized cleaning and disinfection technical norms. For example, Shanghai Huajie Company, in collaboration with the Tongji University research group, developed specialized cleaning and disinfection technical norms tailored to the transmission characteristics of Omicron. The project team compiled the "Technical Norms for Cleaning and Disinfection of Water-Flush Mobile Toilets in Isolation and Treatment Areas During the COVID-19 Pandemic," which was officially released and implemented after being filed with the Shanghai Municipal Administration for Market Regulation. The norms provide operational guidelines for three aspects: user protection, cleaning and disinfection by cleaning personnel, and prevention and control during the collection and transportation of fecal waste in emergency mobile toilets used in isolation and treatment areas for COVID-19 infections.