(*in case* you flush)

Back in the early days of suction toilets (this one in the story was on a boat) there was an urban legend about a woman who had her guts sucked out by the toilet. Here’s the link…

70-year-old woman's intestines sucked out by vacuum toilet

When they designed aircraft suction toilets they installed what was called “vacuum breakers”. Either the seat was designed with a gap or raised off the toilet shroud by little blocks. See picture.

Which reminds me of a fun game we used to play with the toilet paper on the vacuum toilet ….

The next thing you ask is where does it end up. Well, it’s a shitty job and someone has to do it. Here’s a picture of the waste tanks. Those two black reinforced fibreglass tanks ….

They are in the rear cargo hold, and generally are emptied at the end of every flight. Working on these when there were problems was not pleasant and it was mandatory to have had hepatitis shots and wear protective equipment, gloves, masks, etc.