How Clean Are Our Restrooms?
Summer activities have a lot of people outside at parks and in public places, which also means public bathrooms.
Public bathrooms are pretty busy in popular spots like baseball games and the Greenbelt in Idaho Falls.
There is no state law regulating any level of cleanliness in public restrooms. So it’s left up to each community to decide what its policy is on the issue.
The muddy floors, toilet paper hanging down and unflushed toilets can make for big drawbacks when it comes to using public restrooms.
“It’s a public restroom, so you can imagine some of the things that go on here,” said Idaho Falls park attendant Jon Clark.
“You really don’t want to know what kind of complaints we get. We see it all, and it’s disturbing,” said Idaho Falls Park and Recreation foreman Ronnie Campbell.
So how often do these facilities actually get cleaned? It depends on the city.
Campbell said there is no city ordinance regulating public restroom sanitation in the city.
He sends his crew out to clean each restroom at least once a day, and if there’s a reserved event, they’ll be there to pick up right after.
“We have a list that we check off every day in order, unless of course we have an issue at another restroom,” said Campbell.
Ammon has the same in-house policy.
Pocatello does not.
Pocatello Parks and Recreation Director Allen Green said most of its public restrooms are portable, and don’t get cleaned every day, because the company they rent them from maintains them on their schedule.
Not everyone avoids the public restroom. Heather Heaton walks her dogs on the Greenbelt all the time and uses the one right by the falls.
“It would be the one out of toilet paper or the dirtiest, but the rest are usually always good,” said Heaton.
None of the public restrooms in Idaho Falls have soap dispensers or paper towels.
Campbell said they took them out after several counts of vandalism and to ease financial strain on the department.
Public bathrooms shut down in Idaho Falls at 10 p.m. and reopen at 6 a.m., also to protect against vandalism, particularly at night.
