Portable Sanitation Association International

ASSOCIATIONINSIGHT Portable Sanitation Association International News BIWEEKLY EDITION FEBRUARY 3, 2021 Page 3 PSAI's 50th Anniversary—A Short History of Deodorizers…continued from page 1 A container was needed to hold the waste. Sea water, cleaning agents, and mixtures of each were used to keep these "portable outhouses" functional during this time. As the construction and design of the portable restroom continued to evolve from wood to fiberglass to plastic over the decades, so did the deodorizing agents. The early pioneers of the portable sanitation industry mixed their own deodorizers. During this period of the 1950s and early 1960s, portable sanitation professionals tried many liquid combinations. For example: • In 1958, Al Hilde, a true industry legend, founded Satellite Industries. Beginning with handmade wooden units, he thereafter designed a service truck as well as a deodorizer mixture to meet the needs of his customers. • Some operators preferred to mix popular cleaning agents at that time, such as Pine-Sol and Lysol, with water in order to attempt to control the odor in these early units. Bill Reynolds, Jr. of Rent-A-John Portable Sanitation in Columbus, Ohio has fond memories of his father's operation. "In the early 1970s I can remember coming into Dad's warehouse after school and the smell of Pine-Sol was all around." Bill continues, "The Pine-Sol in the tank created a creamy color with the fresh smell of pine." • Other portable restroom operators chose to mix formaldehyde with water as an additive to their restroom tanks. A popular cleaner and disinfectant in the mid-20th century, formaldehyde's use has greatly diminished during the last 20 years or so. A short synopsis of this particular chemical compound is found later in this article. Dying Deodorizer It wasn't long before early portable sanitation operators and chemical suppliers began adding blue dye to the deodorizer mixtures they were trying in the tanks of their restrooms. The idea was to mask the contents of the waste inside the tank. Research indicates that the color blue was typically the preferred choice because it suggests "clear, clean blue water" as opposed to the other most commonly available dye color: green. According to some sources, green suggests "mold, moss, or swampy water," which is not the image that would be favorable to the industry. The Advent of Specialized Deodorizer Companies As the portable sanitation industry continued to grow and to expand, deodorizer manufacturing companies began to appear and to serve this emerging marketplace. Among the earliest companies was J&J Chemical of Crawford, Georgia. Jerry Boyd began plans for this endeavor in 1965, and J&J was incorporated in 1967. As David Roncadori of J&J shares, "The ability to remove this responsibility from operators as well as to standardize mixtures and other efficiencies was a major step forward in our industry." David adds, "J&J's early product offerings were a formaldehyde deodorizer in bubble gum or cherry fragrance. Period." The ability for a manufacturer to create and to improve deodorizers as a result of research, development, and testing has improved the effectiveness of these products throughout the lifespan of our industry. David also recalled two other early companies, REZ Packaging near Chicago and Readi-Chem in Texas, who were important pioneers in this area of our industry. Fact: Pine-Sol was created in 1929 and rose to national popularity in the 1950s. Fact: Lysol was developed in 1889 and used during the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic. David Roncadori Continued on page 4

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