BEIJING, July 7 -- Vacuum self-sucking toilets, commonly seen on civil aviation aircrafts, have been installed in 4 plateau radar stations operated by a brigade with the air force under the PLA Western Theater Command in recent days. Featuring water-saving and anti-freezing, the new-type indoor toilet is of great convenience to officers and soldiers on duty at the radar stations.
The radar stations of the brigade locate at high altitudes. Before the vacuum self-sucking toilet is in place, the service members had to use outdoor toilets, which was extremely inconvenient in bitterly cold weather at minus 20℃ to 30℃. In addition, the daily cleaning of the outdoor toilets was also a headache, since the water pipes of the flush toilets often froze and burst in cold weather, and there was no way to guarantee enough water for toilet flushing when the supply of domestic water was unstable.
Last year, with the help of geological experts who were invited to conduct on-the-spot investigation at the four radar stations, the problem of insufficient water supply for the radar stations was solved by drilling wells and re-laying pipelines. Subsequently, the logistics support department of the brigade cooperated with local scientific research institutes and enterprises to design and built vacuum toilets for the radar stations located at high altitudes.
In response to the reality of low air pressure in high-altitude areas, necessary functional improvements have been made in the toilet design. With the use of air as the transport medium for drainage, water consumption for toilet flushing has been significantly reduced; and the pipelines can work normally under extreme conditions such as low temperature since it sucks sewage with the use of air pressure difference. Trial operation at the radar stations has proved that the vacuum self-sucking toilet reports few failures, provides better sanitation and is well received by the troops.
