What Is a Portable Sink Rental?
A portable sink station is a self-contained unit with a fresh water tank, a foot pump or hand pump, soap dispenser and a gray water holding tank underneath. No hose bib, no drain line. You fill it, use it, and we come pump the gray tank when it fills. Some units on our lineup add hot water, which matters more than people expect once fall mornings in Merced turn cold.
These stations aren't the same thing as a portable toilet or a porta john rental, though they often travel together on the same job site. Construction crews pair a sink station with standard porta potty rental units to cover OSHA's washing rule. Event planners pair one with a restroom trailer rental so guests have somewhere to rinse hands after the buffet line. If you're not sure what your site needs, our porta potty rental checklist walks through the combinations we see most in Merced.
Under 29 CFR 1910.141(d)(2), washing facilities have to include soap and towels or a hand-drying device. Hand sanitizer alone doesn't satisfy that. Every sink station we send out comes stocked with both, refilled at each service stop.
Can I Use a Portable Sink to Wash Hair?
Yes, and it's one of the more common requests we get for events and disaster relief work. A portable sink for hair washing needs a deeper basin and a hose or sprayer attachment rather than just a spigot, which is why we spec that separately from a basic hand-wash unit. Camping groups, film crews and disaster relief teams ask for this setup most.
If a full hair-wash setup is more than the job calls for, a shower trailer rental or a full restroom trailer rental with a shower stall might fit better, especially for multi-day disaster relief sanitation work. We've set up both for disaster relief sanitation jobs around Merced, and for longer film shoots through film set restroom rental. For a quick rinse station at a campsite, though, the basic portable sink and water tank combo usually does the job without the extra cost of a trailer.
Do Portable Sink Stations Come With Hot Water?
Some do. A hot water portable sink uses a small internal heater or a pre-heated tank fill, and we recommend it for anything running past a single afternoon, food service events, or cold-weather jobs. Standard sink stations run cold water only, which is fine for quick hand-washing but not ideal for washing hair or dishes.
Farms hiring hand-labor crews should know OSHA 1928.110 sets field sanitation rules for agriculture: potable water, toilets and handwashing within a quarter mile walk, at one facility per 20 workers. A hot water sink station can satisfy the washing piece of that on outlying properties, which matters for growers working land near farm and agricultural restrooms setups we've done outside Merced proper, including sites closer to Franklin, 5.4 miles northwest, and Bear Creek, 4.2 miles east.
For general industry sites, not construction, 1910.141(c)(1)(i) governs toilet ratios separately from the hand-washing requirement, so don't confuse the two when you're budgeting units.
Where Should I Place a Portable Sink Station?
Place it next to the restroom bank, on level, stable ground, and within reach of foot traffic without blocking it. ADA Standards section 302.1 requires floor and ground surfaces to be stable, firm and slip-resistant, which applies to the pad under an accessible sink just as much as it does to the ADA accessible porta potty next to it. Leave at least 36 inches of clear route per ADA Standards section 403.5.1 so a wheelchair can pass or turn without squeezing past a tank.
For construction sites applying paints, coatings, herbicides or insecticides, OSHA 1926.51(f)(1) requires washing facilities specifically because of those contaminants, separate from the general sanitation rule at 1926.51(c). That's a common trigger for adding a sink station to a paint crew's setup even when portable toilets are already on site. Our porta potty placement guide covers ground clearance and traffic flow in more depth, and if you're staging a site with fencing too, see temporary fence rental for how we coordinate both deliveries in one trip.
Pricing
| unit | duration | typical price |
|---|---|---|
| standard sink station | day | included in standard rental range |
| standard sink station | week | included in standard rental range |
| standard sink station | month | included in standard rental range |
Sink station pricing tracks close to standard porta potty rental rates since they share delivery logistics. Ask for a combined quote through request a quote if you're renting toilets and sinks together, since a shared delivery trip often saves more than pricing each separately. For a broader breakdown of what drives cost across all our units, see porta potty rental cost or, for monthly job sites, monthly porta potty rental.
Frequently asked questions
How much fresh water does a portable sink hold?
Most of our standard hand-wash stations carry 20 to 25 gallons of fresh water, enough for light daily use by a crew of 10 to 15 before a refill. Heavier use, like food service or hair washing, drains it faster. We track usage on multi-day rentals and schedule refills accordingly.
Do I need a permit to place a portable sink station in Merced?
Placement in the public right of way needs confirming with the city of Merced before delivery. We don't guess on this. If your site sits on the street or sidewalk rather than private property, ask us and we'll help you sort out what the city requires. See porta potty permit requirements for the same question applied to toilets.
Can a portable sink station work for camping trips?
Yes. A camping portable sink is usually the same basic hand-wash unit, just scaled down and easier to move. It pairs well with camping porta potty rentals for group campsites, family reunions or outdoor gatherings where there's no running water at all.
How often does the gray water tank need pumping?
That depends entirely on use. A busy event station might need pumping daily, while a light-use job site sink can go a week. We schedule service visits the same way we do for restrooms, based on ANSI/PSAI Z4.3's weekly baseline interval, adjusted up for heavier traffic.
What is the difference between a sink station and a handwashing station?
Not much. The terms overlap. Some sites specifically request a handwashing station rental to satisfy an OSHA hand-washing requirement, while others just want a sink for general cleanup. Either way, the unit is functionally the same tank-and-pump setup.
Next step
Get a delivery date
Tell us the address, the dates and the headcount. We size the order and confirm the route.