What Counts As An Emergency?
An emergency is anything that shuts down a bathroom you were counting on. A septic backup, a failed lift station, a flooded restroom trailer, a contractor whose sanitation vendor no-showed. If workers have nowhere to go, that is an OSHA 1926.51(c) problem, not just an inconvenience. The standard says one toilet facility for 20 workers or fewer, scaling up from there. We keep standard porta potty rental units and deluxe flushable models ready to move on short notice, and we can add an ADA accessible unit to the order, since ADA Standards section 213.2 requires at least one accessible unit in any cluster. Same goes for events. A wedding tent losing its rented restroom the morning of the ceremony is a real call we get. So is a food vendor whose grease trap backs up mid-festival. For agricultural operations, OSHA 1928.110 sets field sanitation rules at one facility per 20 hand-labor employees, within a quarter mile walk, and we treat a failure there the same way we treat a job site failure: fast.
How Fast Can You Get A Unit To Me?
Most emergency calls in Davis get same-day delivery, sometimes within a few hours depending on the order in the queue and where you are relative to our routes. A delivery fee applies on top of the unit rate, and that fee runs higher for rush jobs than for a scheduled drop. If you are near El Macero, about 4.5 miles east, or Dixon, 10.5 miles southwest, travel time factors into how fast we can turn a call around. We ask a few quick questions: how many people, how long you need the unit, and whether the site has clearance. A roll-off dumpster delivery needs about 60 feet of straight clearance behind the truck, and portable toilets need less, but tight driveways or gated lots still slow things down. If your emergency is a full tank rather than a missing unit, we also run emergency septic service and can pump a residential tank that is overdue. A typical residential septic tank gets pumped every 3 to 5 years, based on tank size and household size, so a sudden backup outside that window usually means something else is wrong and needs a look.
| service | duration | typical price |
|---|---|---|
| standard unit | day | 150 |
| standard unit | weekend | 250 |
| delivery fee | day | 150 |
| septic pumping | day | 250 |
| septic pumping | weekend | 100 |
Do You Handle Emergency Septic And Grease Trap Pumping?
Yes. Emergency septic pumping and emergency grease trap pumping are both same-day services when the schedule allows it, and grease traps get priority because a slow one shuts down a working kitchen fast. A grease interceptor needs pumping once fats, oils, grease and solids reach 25 percent of the liquid depth, and by the time a kitchen notices the smell or the backup, it is usually already past that mark. We run grease trap pumping calls for restaurants across Davis and can usually get someone out same day. On the septic side, septic pumping service covers everything from a slow drain to a full backup, and if you are not sure whether pumping alone will fix it, our septic tank warning signs page walks through what to check first. A holding tank rental is often the fastest stopgap while a septic system gets diagnosed or repaired, since it keeps a site functional without waiting on a full fix. We also handle emergency shower trailer needs for disaster response, work camps or any situation where a facility just went offline and people still need to clean up.
What Else Ships On Short Notice?
Beyond toilets and septic work, we can move a restroom trailer rental, a handwashing station, or a temporary fence panel on the same emergency timeline, depending on inventory. Washing facilities become a real requirement under OSHA 1926.51(f)(1) whenever crews are applying paints, coatings, herbicides or insecticides, so a spill or an unplanned coating job can trigger a same-day handwashing order fast. Under 29 CFR 1910.141(d)(2), those stations need soap and towels or a hand-drying device; hand sanitizer alone does not satisfy it. If your event or job site in Davis needs both a toilet fix and crowd or perimeter control, we can bundle a crowd control barrier or chain link fence into the same delivery run. For disaster relief situations specifically, our disaster relief sanitation page covers what we can typically mobilize and how fast. Storage needs sometimes show up alongside sanitation emergencies too, like a jobsite trailer that failed and needs a quick storage container swap.
What number should I call for an emergency porta potty near me?
Call our main line and say it is an emergency. We prioritize same-day dispatch for active job sites, events already underway, and any situation where a toilet or septic failure has already happened, not just a scheduled swap.
How much does emergency delivery cost compared to a scheduled order?
Delivery fees for rush and after-hours orders run higher than a standard scheduled delivery, generally toward the upper end of the 100 to 500 dollar range, because it means pulling a truck off its normal route on short notice.
Can you handle an emergency at a UC Davis area event?
Yes. University of California-Davis sits about 2.9 miles southwest of our main service area, well within same-day range for both toilet and septic emergencies tied to campus events or nearby construction.
Do you pump septic tanks on weekends for emergencies?
Yes, weekend septic pumping is available and priced separately from weekday service. Weekend emergency calls typically cost less than a full weekday dispatch for the pumping itself, though availability depends on the day's schedule.
What if my event restroom trailer breaks down mid-event?
We treat that as a same-day emergency and will send a replacement trailer or backup standard units, whichever gets working restrooms back on site faster, depending on what is available in the fleet that day.
Next step
Get a delivery date
Tell us the address, the dates and the headcount. We size the order and confirm the route.