Aviation
How toilet waste is disposed while in a plane
Many people think toilet waste is disposed from airplanes by throwing it out of the plane while still in the air. And yes this actually used to happen in the past. The toilets in earlier airplanes were primitive and direct and passengers simply hurled the waste contents out the window onto the unsuspecting world below. Fortunately all these changed once commercial flying became popular and pressurized cabins were introduced.
However this system cannot work on airplane since airplanes do not have a septic system to hold the waste. Placing water into airplane toilets would be impractical since the water would splash about everytime the plane moved and and make a mess.
What is used in airplanes is the vacuum system and only a tiny amount of water is used to clean the bowl and get it ready for the next person. In airplanes the toilet bowls are nonstick and contain a blue liquid called Skykem. This blue liquid helps in disinfecting the bowl and getting rid of any odors lurking about in the bathroom
The loud noise one hears when flushing comes from the vacuum sucking the contents out of the waterless bowl and not from waste materials being hurled into the air. The waste then travels through pipes to the back of the plane and remains within a special tank that can only be accessed from the exterior of the plane thus it’s impossible to clear the tanks during the flight.
However there have been several cases where homes have been hit by blue ice falling from the sky. This blue ice is actually a combination of human waste and Skykem that freezes at high altitudes and leaks out of a plane’s undercarriage. Fortunately such cases are quite rare so you don’t have to worry about being hit by frozen toilet waste falling from the sky.