Even though you didn’t think about this much often, you may have wondered at least even once when you’re sitting on an airplane toilet, where your poop goes when you flush. You will forget the question by the time you get out and it will come back to you at really random moments. It only has a very simple explanation.
How Does It Disappear?
Airplanes don’t just drop it mid-air to fall on some poor, unsuspecting soul unlike trains which just dump poop on the tracks. Planes have a sophisticated mechanism to manage waste. Here’s how it works.
Into The Belly Of The Machine
Your waste goes right into its belly when you take a dump in a plane. A plane has numerous containers to swallow it all up. It sets off the mechanism which opens the tanks below as soon as you press the button to flush it. These all are attached to a smart toilet system.
How Big Are The Tanks?
There are lots of holding tanks on a plane and each one can store up to 75 liters of waste and most airplanes have enough tanks to hold around 400 liters. Workers are assigned to empty out the tanks into sewage trucks and clean them out when the plane lands.
The Man Behind It All
James Kemper changed air travel forever in 1970. He was the person to invent the toilet system that is now used all around the world. Before this, people were given a bucket to use as a toilet. The bucket invariable fell over or was discarded while the plane was still in the air if it was a shaky or stormy. Boeing started using Kemper’s model, but it took time after that to make the necessary changes for the mechanism to be used on commercial flights.
Blue Liquid
Planes use a blue liquid to clean the toilets and to ensure that all the waste is properly flushed out. The mechanism that suctions out waste and the toilet is added with this liquid. The liquid also works as an air freshener
Into The System
A machine that is sealed airtight is used to flush out the waste. Trucks are used to empty out the waste when the plane arrives at its destination.
Where Does It Go Then?
Trucks are brought to airport to take the waste and clean out the plane. Then the trucks are going to the same drains that carry the toilet waste from our houses.
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