Make A DIY Emergency Toilet That Is Sturdy
Yes, you make a DIY emergency toilet that is sturdy! You can actually sit on it and use it much like you would a regular toilet. I have shared my other emergency toilets comparing the 5-gallon buckets to the 6-gallon buckets. Here’s the deal, the 5-gallon buckets are way too short for most people. I recommend at least a 6-gallon bucket because the height is about three inches taller which makes all the difference in the world when you need to squat on the toilet. Now, I have shared several styles of DIY emergency toilets as I do additional posts on the subject, but today, this one will rock the world, literally! When I saw this new DIY toilet it was a cartwheel moment for me. We had some nieces and nephews over for a visit, and my nephew, Dane R. introduced me to this new version which he made with this new and improved style. He said to me, “Linda, I’m a big guy, and that plastic toilet with the green lid I’ve seen on your posts may tip over, and I’m afraid my grandkids will topple over when getting on and off.” He said, “Let me show you the one I designed.” I love this guy! So here we go. All you need is some scrap wood and you can make one. If you know someone with the necessary tools you can pay them to make one. This is for sure one you will want at your home or on a camping trip.
This is by far the best DIY emergency toilet I have ever seen. I’m so excited to share it with you today. Here are the items you will need. If you have a handy person in your family that’s awesome. All you need are some scraps of wood and a few tools to make this sturdy DIY emergency toilet. I realize pee and poo are not the most popular topics to talk about, but we have to be prepared to relieve ourselves. Please stock up on toilet paper, cloth diapers, diaper pins, menstrual supplies, and paper towels. Before you buy you decide to construct your emergency toilet you need to buy a regular-size toilet seat or an elongated one and then build around it.
DIY Emergency Toilet
- 6-gallon bucket (approximately 17.5 to 18-inches tall)
- 10-gallon bags
- Duct tape so you can tape the bag onto the 6-gallon bucket
- Regular toilet seat to attach to the new and improved 6-gallon bucket
- The toilet paper holder attached to the wooden box
- Toilet paper
- Kitty litter is the cheapest you can find
- Kitty litter scoop to safely remove poo from the toilet until it’s ready to replace the 10-gallon bag filled with kitty litter
- Black bags to dispose of refuse safely away from any water source (I picture burying or burning the bags)
- Wood box made to fit around the toilet with a lip to attach the regular toilet seat and toilet paper holder
- Please store bleach for any cleanup, it will last for 9-12 months. We will need it to clean up disasters.
View inside the DIY emergency toilet:
View of how the toilet seat is attached to the wooden box. A real toilet seat on a sturdy base, I love this!
Food Storage Moms original one
Food Storage Moms inside our home
We really need to think about what’s going on around us in this world of ours. If we lose power we will not have running water, sewer lines will eventually not work, and so it’s critical we are prepared to dispose of our sewage and trash. If you have trash pickup as I do every Friday morning those hard workers will not be coming by to pick up trash if we have a major disaster. It could be a power outage, contaminated water, a pandemic, a flood, or a fire, to name just a few emergency situations. One of my biggest fears is a grid-down. Our country is not prepared in any way to get us back up and running with electricity if and when we are hit with an EMP or terrorist attack. The government can’t help everyone if the stores are closed. It won’t be long before you realize that what you have in your house right now may be all you have for days, weeks, or months. Could you live with the water, food, flashlights, cooking fuel, and other emergency items you need in your house this very minute? I’m coming down pretty hard today, maybe because I’m a little discouraged that people don’t get it, you know to be prepared for the unexpected. FEMA will not be there to scoop us up and save us, it’s not going to happen. We are responsible for ourselves and our family, we need to do today what is truly necessary to be prepared, not tomorrow.
Please tell me the areas you are concerned with the most, maybe we can work on those areas together. It’s critical we get our teams put together in our neighborhood with like-minded people. Are your neighbors on board with your thoughts on survival? I am not bugging out or leaving my home to be a target on a piece of land away from my community. That’s why today, I had to share this awesome DIY emergency toilet, it’s one more way to be prepared.
Please decide which emergency toilet works for you and let me know. If we lose power the sewer lines will work with a generator until the fuel runs out. Sewage and garbage are one of my biggest concerns, we have to make a plan and be prepared with shovels, garbage bags, and I mean a lot of garbage bags. I can never have too many 33-gallon black bags. Let me know if you have a design for your own DIY emergency toilet, I would love to hear from you. Let’s get our neighborhoods prepared for the unexpected. Thank you, Dane, for this awesome design!
I agree that we all should prepare for many kinds of disasters, but if society is broken down so much so that we don’t have running water or electricity, then there will be no food after a short amount of time and I”m concerned that people will do ANYTHING to get food for themselves or family. I can’t see society devolving into some kind of medieval lifestyle–we don’t have the skills or materials (horses, for instance) to sustain that.
Hi, Emmie, I totally agree with you about people will do anything to get food for themselves. I think this is why people are waking up to the fact that we must grow our own food in order to sustain life. Have you read the book (not fiction) by Ted Koppel? It’s called “Lights Out”. Our country is so far behind in updating out electrical grids that we will eventually be without electricity and running water. You are right most people do not have the skills needed to survive even a week without water or food in their homes. They are not prepared for anything. Linda
I love this! However, if the power is down, my pinning it to my pinterest board won’t do me much good. For some reason it won’t print out, so I can save it on hard copy. Any suggestions?
Hi, Nika, can you cut and paste it into an email? Then print it? Linda
Just build it right now and assemble the other supplies now while they are easily available
I was just reading Linda Loosli article about a sturdy emergency toilet in which you stated you were having problems printing it out. I usually copy and paste articles into Word, go thru adjusting font names and styles and eliminating extra spaces before and after lines [getting rid of white space to make it smaller]. Then I save it and print it out.I often deduce articles by 10 pages or so if they are long. I even reduce the size of pictures if not needed for dimensions [or eliminated even]. I often insert a 2 cell table and move the reduced pictures into the cells to get rid of the white spaces on the side of pictures. I how this helps you.
Lynne, thank you, I think you have the option to use the PRINT button that is green, I hope that’s working. Let me know my friends if it’s not working. THANK YOU, Linda
I have three emergency toilets, and I have a septic tank, so if I have a grey water source, I can flush the toilet with a bucket.
I live in the country, I expect if there is an emergency, the government will probably try and help the most amount of people. That leaves rural areas on their own.
Hi, Janet, it sounds like you are very prepared, which I already knew because of previous comments. We need more people like you in the world. It’s sad that the rural areas will be on their own. I think we may all be on our own. It will be interesting to see how the cards fall, so to speak. I always love your comments, Linda
Forget that idea. If anything, you’ll have to run from your Government!
Hi, William, great comment, it made me laugh. But you are right! Linda
I agree, but I will be living in the rural area to get AWAY from people and can sustain myself and family. We are headed that direction in the next year and are currently doing things on our property now to help us out if the time happened very soon before we can live there permanently. We all have to realize that we will have to be self-sustaining in order to live.
Hi, Jennifer, this is so true. Now, if we can get others to realize we need to be self-sustaining. Great comment, good work, I love hearing this! Linda
History shows that – while *some* people will do anything, the majority just starve quietly, probably because they misjudge their condition and become too weak to do anything before they realize the trouble they are in. Also, I think you underestimate the resourcefulness of the human race. No, we don’t have horses (most people don’t, anyway) but we do have the ability to figure out makeshifts for almost anything! And many of us do have skills which would be very useful after SHTF – growing food, for instance. NOW is the time to educate yourself, to learn useful skills.
Hi Pat, I feel bad if you took my statement as though I underestimate the human race. It’s quite the opposite. I totally agree with you about educating ourselves to learn skills. I have never lived in a community like the one I live in right now. So many are dependent on the government for housing and food stamps. We have several low-income housing areas within 1/2 mile of my home, which I agree is needed for people for short term. We have people who have lived off the government for 10-15 years and can’t seem to keep a job. Some of those people I am most concerned about learning the skills to survive. Thanks for your comment, Linda
I was wondering if your nephew would have plans for this by any chance. That would be really helpful. The pictures are good, but I’m not exactly a carpenter and it would be helpful to see what he did exactly and how. Thanks for the great post and all that you do.
Hi, Lisa, I’m having someone make me one with the plans, I will keep you posted. Linda
Thank you Linda!
Hi, Lisa, I was looking for a wooden flower box at the different hardware stores but most were only 15 inches tall, the 6-gallon bucket is almost 18-inches tall. I think most people will take the bucket size they want to use and build the box around it. I think my friend is going to use scraps of wood she has in her shop. It just needs to be a box that will fit snugly around the bucket you are going to use. Then there needs to be a sturdy “lip” around the base to attach the conventional toilet seat. You can find the toilet paper holder at any store that sells plumbing supplies. I hope this helps. Linda
Nice job, Dane R.! That’s one stylish emergency toilet…I LIKE it! One question and one suggestion…first, the question: How much does your assembly weigh?
Next, my suggestion is this: Once built, before inserting the 6-gal bucket, line the interior of the “box” with a contractor’s heavy-duty clean-up bag to reduce the possibility of fecal contamination of the wooden interior of the “box”. It would be a shame to mess up such a beautiful, functional, useful work of art in that way.
Hi, Sideliner, good tip on the contractor’s heavy duty clean-up bag! I will keep you posted on the weight, I’m having one built. I purchased the small round toilet seat over the elongated because of the extra size and weight involved. I will post the weight once I have it made. Linda