Skip to content
Proudly serving Atlanta and all of Georgia
Porta PottyRental Georgia
Call Now
Menu

Georgia reference · Updated 2026-08-21

How Many Porta Potties Do I Need for an Event in Georgia?

The short answer

Georgia publishes an official planning table: a 500-person event running four hours needs 5 units, a 1,000-person four-hour event needs 8, and a 5,000-person six-hour event needs 38. Then apply three adjustments: subtract one unit for each sewered toilet already on site, add 25% if alcohol is served, and round up to the next row for crowd sizes between table values.

Work out your number

This applies Georgia’s own tables and adjustments. Nothing is estimated.

Units required5Table row 500 at 4h gives 5.

Calculated from Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 511-3-6-.08 Appendix Table 2. The table assumes units are serviced daily, and accessible units are provided per the Georgia Accessibility Code. Crowd sizes between rows round up to the next row. Call (470) 431-3553 to turn this into a quote.

Where does this table come from?

It is Appendix Table 2 of Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 511-3-6, adapted from research by the Center for Business and Industrial Studies at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

Most portable toilet websites quote a rule of thumb, one unit per fifty people for a four-hour event, and stop there. That figure is roughly consistent with the table at small crowd sizes, but it diverges badly as events get longer or larger. At 500 people the table gives 5 units for four hours, close to the rule of thumb. At 5,000 people for eight hours it gives 50 units, where the naive ratio would suggest 100. The table is not linear, and neither is real restroom demand.

Because Georgia adopts this table by rule, it is also the number a permit reviewer is most likely to check against. Sizing to the table is both the compliant answer and the defensible one.

One structural detail matters when you read it: the table assumes units are serviced daily. A multi-day festival that skips daily servicing is not operating at the capacity the table assumes, no matter how many units are on site.

What are the three adjustments?

Subtract one unit per sewered toilet on site, add 25% if alcohol is served, and round up to the next table row when your crowd falls between values.

The sewered-toilet credit is straightforward and frequently forgotten. If your venue has permanent restrooms, each sewered toilet available on site reduces the required portable count by one. On a park or fairground with an existing restroom building, this can meaningfully reduce the order.

The alcohol adjustment is a flat 25% increase on the base number, applied after you have read the table. It is not optional guidance; it is written into the rule's own instructions for using the table. If beer, wine, or cocktails are served, the number goes up by a quarter.

The rounding rule resolves the in-between cases. A 1,500-person event does not interpolate between the 1,000 and 2,000 rows, it rounds up to the 2,000 row. Georgia builds the safety margin in deliberately.

  • Read the base number from the table using peak crowd and hours at the event.
  • Subtract 1 for each sewered toilet available on site.
  • Add 25% to the base number if alcoholic beverages will be served.
  • Round up to the next base number for crowds between chart values.
  • Provide accessible units in accordance with the Georgia Accessibility Code.

What counts as peak crowd, and what counts as hours?

Peak crowd is the highest number of people present at once, not total attendance across the day; hours is how long an average attendee is present.

This distinction changes the answer dramatically and is the most common sizing error we see. A festival with 12,000 people through the gate across a day, but never more than 4,000 on site at once, sizes against the 4,000 row, not the 10,000 or 15,000 row. Conversely, a concert where everyone arrives at once and stays for the whole show has a peak equal to total attendance.

For hours, the table is measuring exposure time. A ten-hour event where attendees rotate through in three-hour visits behaves very differently from a ten-hour event where the same crowd stays throughout. When in doubt, size against the longer figure, the cost of one extra unit is trivial against the cost of a queue that defines your event.

Georgia also requires that units remain accessible for maintenance by truck at all times during a special event. If your peak-crowd layout blocks the service route, the effective capacity of your order drops regardless of what the table says.

How many accessible units do I need in Georgia?

Georgia's sanitation rule points to the Georgia Accessibility Code and to state or local requirements, rather than fixing a ratio in the rule itself.

This is a genuine difference from the industry rule of thumb you will see quoted elsewhere, which is commonly one accessible unit for every twenty standard units, minimum one. That ratio is a reasonable planning starting point and many suppliers work to it, but it is not what Georgia's portable sanitation rule says.

Because the rule defers to the accessibility code and to local requirements, the correct move is to confirm the count with the permit office reviewing your event. Getting this wrong is not merely a sanitation issue, accessibility obligations at public-facing events carry their own exposure.

Practically, request accessible units at the time of booking rather than as a late addition. Accessible inventory across Georgia is thinner than standard inventory, and it is the first category to run out on peak weekends.

Table 2 — Portable Sanitation Units for Special Events Planning

This is the complete table as Georgia publishes it, from 500 to 100,000 attendees. Find your peak crowd, read across to your event length.

Table 2 — Portable Sanitation Units for Special Events Planning
Peak crowd1h2h3h4h5h6h7h8h9h10h
500244567991012
1,00046889911121313
2,00056912141618202325
3,000691216202426303438
4,0008131622253035404550
5,00012152025313844505663
10,00015253850637588100113125
15,0002038567594113131150169188
20,000255075100125150175200225250
25,000386999130160191221252282313
30,0004682119156192229266302339376
35,0005396139181224267310352395438
40,00061109158207256305354403452501
45,00068123178233288343398453508563
50,00076137198259320381442503564626
55,00083150217285352419486554621688
60,00091164237311384457531604677751
65,00098177257336416495575654734813
70,000106191277362448533619704790876
75,000113205296388480571663755846938
80,0001212183164145126097078059031001
85,0001282323364405446477518559591063
90,00013624635646657668679690610161126
95,00014325937549160772484095610721188
1,00,000151273395517639762884100611281251

Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 511-3-6-.08, Appendix Table 2 · Based on Portable Restroom Requirements at Special Events and Crowd Gatherings, Center for Business and Industrial Studies, University of Missouri–St. Louis · Table based on units being serviced daily.

The adjustments the table requires

  1. For each sewered toilet available onsite, subtract 1 from the calculated number.
  2. If alcoholic beverages are to be served, add 25% to the base number.
  3. For peak crowd numbers that fall between chart numbers, round up to the next base number.
  4. Units shall be provided in accordance with the Georgia Accessibility Code following state or local requirements.

Frequently asked questions

Questions about this rule

How many porta potties do I need for 100 guests?

Georgia's table starts at 500 attendees, so a 100-guest event sits below the published range. Reading the 500-person row for a four-hour event gives 5 units for ten times the crowd, and the industry baseline of one unit per fifty people for four hours would suggest 2 units for 100 guests. For a four-hour, 100-person event, two standard units is a sound plan, three if alcohol is served or the event runs longer. Note that at more than fifty people for over two hours, this is already a regulated special event in Georgia.

How many porta potties do I need for 1,000 people?

Under Georgia's Appendix Table 2, a 1,000-person event needs 4 units at one hour, 8 units at four hours, 9 at six hours, and 13 at ten hours. If alcohol is served, add 25%, so a four-hour event with alcohol needs 10 units. Subtract one unit for each sewered toilet already available on site.

Does serving alcohol really change how many units I need?

Yes, and in Georgia it is written into the rule rather than left to judgment. The instructions accompanying Appendix Table 2 state that if alcoholic beverages are to be served, add 25% to the base number. Applied to a 5,000-person six-hour event, that takes the requirement from 38 units to 48.

Do permanent restrooms at the venue reduce how many portable units I need?

Yes. Georgia's Table 2 instructions state that for each sewered toilet available on site, you subtract one from the calculated number. The same credit applies on construction sites, where the required count is determined after taking into account any sewered seated or urinal toilets present.

What if my event runs longer than ten hours or draws more than 100,000 people?

Georgia's published table stops at ten hours and 100,000 attendees. Beyond that range the table no longer gives a direct answer, and the count should be worked out with your permit office and the portable sanitation company, generally by treating multi-day or larger events as a series of daily peaks with servicing scheduled between them.

Sources

Content on this page reproduces public regulatory text for reference. It is not legal advice. Confirm current requirements with your county Health Authority and permit office before relying on them. Page last reviewed 2026-08-21.

A concrete building under construction with formwork in place

Need units that meet these requirements?

Written quote within 24 hours of a weekday request, or a same-day callback when you call before 3pm Eastern.

Call (470) 431-3553

Related services

Where this applies

Other guides

Questions about applying this to your job? Call (470) 431-3553

Call (470) 431-3553