Portable Toilets in High-Speed Service Areas

The prices, related incidents, and smart upgrade solutions for portable toilets in high-speed service areas are as follows:

Prices and Suppliers
The prices of portable toilets in high-speed service areas vary significantly depending on the brand, type, and functionality. For example, the starting price for the Apple Cabin portable toilet provided by Changzhou Runlong Environmental Protection Technology Co., Ltd. is 850 yuan per unit, with other models ranging from 850 yuan to 5,000 yuan. Mainstream brands in the market also include Changjiu Environmental Protection, Xuhu, Chenye, etc., offering products that cover the economic to high-end range to meet the needs of different service areas. Price differences mainly stem from factors such as materials (e.g., stainless steel, fiberglass), structural design (single or multi-unit combinations), and additional features (e.g., intelligent ventilation, barrier-free facilities).

Safety Risks and Industry Issues
There are safety hazards during the transportation of portable toilets. On May 11, 2023, a typical incident occurred at a high-speed service area in Hebei: Ms. Zhang entered a portable toilet, and due to the transportation driver's failure to perform a complete inspection process, the toilet was pulled off the ground by a hook-and-chain truck and 'flew' 28 kilometers on the highway for 23 minutes. Such incidents expose chronic issues in the industry:

• Lack of inspection procedures: Among over 100,000 portable toilet dispatches nationwide each year, only 37% of drivers perform a complete inspection process;
• Product description deficiencies: Some portable toilet manuals do not include warning clauses about transportation risks;
• Soundproofing design hazards: The good soundproofing performance of toilets makes it difficult for distress calls to be heard. In the past three years, there have been 17 similar incidents nationwide, resulting in 3 minor injuries.
  The industry needs to strengthen transportation规范 (standard) training, improve product safety standards, and optimize toilet structural design (e.g., adding emergency alarm devices).

Smart Public Toilet Upgrade Solutions
To address the issues of low management efficiency and high maintenance costs in traditional public toilets, Shenzhen Guangmingyuan Intelligent Technology has introduced a smart public toilet solution:

• Networking technology: It adopts a dual-mode networking approach combining LoRa wireless and RS485 wired connections. The wired backbone connects to equipment in the machine room, while wireless endpoints deploy sensors, eliminating the need for trenching or wall-breaking during renovations of old service areas;
• Core functions:
  1. Smart toilet stall guidance: Real-time display of toilet stall occupancy status;
  2. Automatic environmental control: Adjustment of temperature and humidity, deodorization, and sterilization;
  3. Fine-grained consumable management: Monitoring of paper towel and hand sanitizer levels with automatic replenishment;
  4. Safety and emergency protection: Integration of emergency call and smoke alarm functions.
     This solution enables remote centralized management through 4G or broadband connections to a management platform, enhancing the intelligence level of public toilets in service areas.