One creative solution to the bathroom dilemma Water tanks outside this shanty provide water to flush the toilet and take a shower. In most cases, there are no available bathroom facilities. The odor of human waste is not an uncommon aroma in urban homeless communities. Although I am sure that encampment residents use public toilets when possible, these facilities are not always a convenient distance to their shanties. Most men feel comfortable relieving themselves on the ground.
Women tend to be more modest and use a bucket for their human waste.
Either way, the excrement needs to be disposed of and usually ends up on the ground or a nearby water source. Plumbing To solve the bathroom dilemma one hispanic man, who liked to be called Henry, got creative and installed a porcelain sink and toilet. To flush the toilet a large tub of water with plastic tubes connected to the sink, toilet and shower. The sink drained into a bucket and I never asked where the toilet flushed because I knew it was not connected to the sewer. The bathroom was not the only outstanding feature of Henry's Shanty.