The six types, and which one you need
Every unit below shares the same weatherproof polyethylene shell, about 1.2m square and 2.3m tall, delivered fully assembled and made in Britain. The difference is what is inside.
- Recirculating toilet, no basin: the classic site and event loo. Hand-pump flush, sealed 225 litre waste tank, sanitiser dispenser on the door. No water, drainage or power needed.
- HSE-compliant toilet: the same recirculating flush plus a large foot-operated wash basin sized for full forearm washing, which is the spec site inspectors look for on construction welfare. On most rivals that basin is a paid extra; here it is the standard build.
- 4-bay urinal station: serves four at once with no connections. The cheapest way to add capacity for a big crew or a matchday crowd, and it keeps queues off your toilets.
- Shower cubicle: 7kW instant hot water, curtain and dry changing corner. Needs a power feed and produces only grey water, which makes disposal simple.
- Mains-connected toilet: porcelain WC, cistern and basin with hot and cold water, plumbed into mains water and drainage like an ordinary bathroom. Never needs emptying. The long-term yard and smallholding choice.
- Wheelchair-accessible toilet: a wider 1.6m unit with a barrier-free floor a wheelchair rolls straight into, an 810mm door, interior handrails and a fold-down baby-change table. Priced on application.
Rule of thumb from HSE construction guidance: one toilet per seven people where servicing is weekly. A dozen on site means two toilets, or one toilet and the urinal station if the crew is mostly male.
What each unit costs to buy
| Unit | Price ex VAT | Inc VAT |
|---|---|---|
| Recirculating toilet (no basin) | £1,055 | £1,266 |
| 4-bay urinal station | £1,095 | £1,314 |
| HSE-compliant toilet | £1,125 | £1,350 |
| Shower cubicle | £1,495 | £1,794 |
| Mains-connected toilet | £1,845 | £2,214 |
| Wheelchair-accessible toilet | POA | POA |
All prices are ex-works with delivery quoted by postcode, and every unit is brand new, not ex-hire fleet. Live availability is on the portable toilets page, and each unit has a full spec sheet linked from its listing. Sales are to businesses, clubs and sole traders under our portable toilet terms.
Buy vs hire: the arithmetic
Hire looks cheap by the week and dear by the year. A fair comparison has to credit hire for including servicing, so we add a weekly service visit to the ownership column. Take the standard recirculating toilet on a site that runs 12 months, hire assumed at £70 a week, servicing at £30 a visit.
| Cost line | Hire (12 months) | Buy new |
|---|---|---|
| Hire, 52 weeks × £70 (servicing included) | £3,640 | - |
| Purchase price | - | £1,055 |
| Weekly service visit, 52 × £30 | - | £1,560 |
| Cash out over 12 months | £3,640 | £2,615 |
| Asset you own at month 12 | £0 | a one-year-old unit |
Ownership is about £1,000 ahead at month 12, and that is before the last row. The hire spend is gone. The purchased unit is still worth a meaningful share of what you paid, and year two costs you nothing but the servicing. Hire the same loo for a second year and you have spent £7,280 on a unit you could have owned twice over.
Emptying and servicing, honestly
This is the question every seller skips, so here it is plainly. When you own the unit, servicing is yours to arrange. The waste sits in a sealed tank moulded into the base. Any local sanitation contractor will pump it out and recharge it with fresh water and chemical, on the same round they make to every hire unit in the country. On a working crew that is typically once a week, and £25 to £40 a visit is the going rate in most regions.
Waste must go to a licensed carrier or an authorised disposal point, never into a surface drain. The shower is grey water only, a much simpler question. The mains-connected unit empties into the drainage it is plumbed to and needs no servicing at all beyond cleaning.
Delivery and siting
These units weigh 70 to 135 kg, so delivery is kerbside on a tail-lift, quoted by postcode. No crane, no forklift, no HIAB. Two people walk the unit into position, which means it can go through a garden gate or down the side of a building, somewhere no lorry-mounted crane could ever reach. It needs firm, reasonably level ground and nothing else. Full details are on our delivery page.
When hiring genuinely wins
We sell these units, so take this as against-interest honesty. Hire when:
- The need is days or a few weeks: a wedding, a festival pitch, a short job. The arithmetic never catches up.
- You want it fully serviced with zero admin. Hire firms empty, clean and restock without being asked.
- You have nowhere to store the unit between jobs and no appetite to sell it on.
- You need twenty units for one weekend. Buying a fleet for a single event makes no sense.
If the unit will stand on your site for months, or you hire every season, the sums point the other way. The full range with live prices is on the portable toilets page.