When planning an event you’ll have a lot of rental items to consider. Portable hand washing sinks are one thing you may be considering to couple with your portable restroom rentals.
The sanitation rentals for your event are a very visual aspect so you have a lot to think about. When people feel comfortable they don’t notice the sanitation, and when they don’t feel comfortable they remember it. You may be wondering if you should rent portable sinks for your event. Lets evaluate the reasons portable sinks may be beneficial, and the situations where portable hand washing stations are required.
What Types of Portable Sinks Are There
So there are two main types of portable hand washing sinks that you can use at your special events. These hand washing stations have very different features and use cases, so you may need to rent one or both of them. These two types of portable hand washing sinks are the standard foot pump hand washing station and the hot water SaniSink.
Special Event Foot Pump Hand Washing Sink
The most common type of portable hand washing station is the special event foot pump hand washing sink. This portable sink offers users an experience that leaves them feeling cleaner than standard hand sanitizer would. With a foot pumping mechanism, the user gets fresh and clean water every time they wash their hands. It also comes stocked with anti-bacterial hand soap and paper towels for the user. These portable sink stations are primarily used for the attendees of events, and offer a great alternative for clean hands.
Hot and Cold Water SaniSink
The second type of portable hand washing station is the hot and cold water SaniSink. This sink is closer to a standard indoor hand washing sink. With a heating mechanism inside, the SaniSink can provide hot water hand washing. These sinks are ideal for situations like food preparation, medical first aid areas, and other areas that require hot running water. This sink also requires an electrical power source for the water heater and pressure to function properly.
Do I Need to Rent Portable Hand Washing Sinks for My Event?
Now that you have an overview of the different types of hand washing sinks out there, you may be asking whether or not you should be renting them for your next event. There are many reasons why it would be beneficial to rent portable hand washing sinks, and there are also reasons why you may be required to rent them.
While it isn’t required that you rent hand washing sinks for your event attendees, it is something you should strongly consider. The goal of any event is to maximize attendance and keep people there are as long as you can. This means more money for you and more revenue for your vendors. The more vendors make, the more they’ll want to come back for next years event, right?
One Person Can Make a Whole Group Leave Your Event
We’ve all been to events where one person in a group or family can persuade the whole group to stay or go, and you don’t want to give these people an extra reason to leave. Imagine if this person decides that they don’t like the restroom facilities or they don’t feel clean enough after using the restroom facilities or eating. They could convince the entire group or family to just pack up and go.
Providing portable hand washing stations can provide your guests with the extra touch that will make them feel more comfortable. They can clean up the sticky hands of their kids, give them a place to wash up after changing a diaper, or rise off after a particularly messy lunch. A clean guest is happier and more willing to spend money with your vendors and stay at the event longer.
Help Clean Up After Eating
Does your event revolve around eating? Do some of these foods require people to use their hands? If either of these two things are true, you should really consider renting some hand washing sinks for your attendees. Events such as: crawfish boils, food truck festivals, rib festivals, and chili cook-offs could leave people with some dirty and sticky hands throughout the day. Providing portable hand washing stations for event guests could mean they stay longer, and consume more of the tasty food you and your vendors are selling. This means more money for you and for the vendors paying to exhibit at your event.
Gives Your Event a Good Reputation
Portable sanitation is one of those things that you don’t notice until it’s not going well. The last thing you want attendees of your event to say is “the bathrooms were disgusting”. Portable hand washing sinks can give you the reputation of having a nice and clean portable bathroom experience. They can exit the portable restroom, walk over to a separate sink and use real soap and water instead of hand sanitizer. By renting portable hand washing sinks they may be talking more about how cool the hand washing sinks were instead of how unpleasant the portable bathroom experience was.
When Renting Hand Washing Stations is Required
Renting hand washing stations for your event attendees is a nice touch that will make your guests happy, but when is renting hand washing stations required for your event? There may be some instances where not only are portable sinks required, but they must be hot water hand washing sinks as well.
Seasonal or Temporary Food Stands
Now hand washing laws vary from state-to-state. Since On Site Companies located in Minnesota, we’re going to use the Minnesota state regulations to highlight the requirements for hot water hand washing stations for seasonal or temporary food stations.
According to the Minnesota Department of Health a seasonal or temporary food stand (STF):
“is a food and beverage service establishment that is disassembled and moved from location to location. The food stand must operate for no more than 21 days annually at any one location unless approved by the by the licensing agency. All food stands must operate in compliance with the Minnesota food code.”
The Minnesota Department of health has it’s own regulations on hand washing requirements for these food vendors and they are as follows
“Hand washing is the single most effective means of preventing the spread of disease causing microbes and pathogens.
Hand washing sink(s) must be set up and operational prior to the start of an event, be easily accessible to all employees and used for no other purpose.
Hand washing sink(s) must be supplied with running water at a temperature between 70°F and 110°F, soap, nailbrush and disposable towels.
Gloves, wet-wipes or hand sanitizers are not substitutes for hand washing.
Hands must be washed before working with food, clean equipment and utensils; after smoking, eating or drinking, or using toilet facilities; or any time hands become contaminated.”
So if you’re hosting an event with food vendors, and you don’t have stationary restrooms with hot water hand washing sinks, these vendors will be required to have hot water hand washing stations available for them. The standard hand sanitizer provided with portable restrooms, and the foot pump hand washing station won’t meet these requirements.
The hot water SaniSink can, however, meet these standards. This portable sink contains a 5-gallon water bottle under the sink and a grey water bottle for the used hand washing water. It also requires an electrical plug-in to power the hot water heater on board. To help make sure all of your on site vendors meet the requirements, you could consider renting these SaniSinks to keep around the food vendor area.
How Many Hand Washing Stations Should I Order
The answer to how many hand washing stations should I order is different depending on who these hand washing sinks are for. When estimating the number of foot pump hand washing sinks you’ll need, the standard is one hand washing station for every five standard portable restrooms you are renting. If you want a good way to figure out how many portable restrooms, enhanced access portable restrooms and hand washing stations that you’ll need for your event, you can use our handy portable restroom calculator.
If you’re trying to estimate the number of hot water SaniSinks you’ll need, this would all depend on the number of food vendors your hosting. We would recommend that there be one sink for every vendor to keep them near the food prep stations. If you don’t wish to rent these sinks for all your vendors, you can provide them referrals to nearby companies that do rent out hot water SaniSinks and make them aware of the hot water hand washing requirements.
In Conclusion
Whether hand washing stations are required or just an added option for your event, they have many benefits that can mean extra dollars in your pocket and more sales for your vendors. It’s a small expense that could mean a big payoff for your event. They could also be required for your event food vendors, so be sure you’re aware of all laws and regulations in your state and city.
On Site Companies is a portable restroom provider for the Minneapolis / St. Paul, Rochester and Mankato Minnesota areas, as well as St. Louis Missouri. For more information about porta potty rental options for your upcoming special event, you can email us as sales@onsiteco.com or call us at 1-800-210-8407
