Latrines and trough water closets are frequently used in public places, schools, railroad stations, factories, hospitals, military barracks, etc. Latrines (Fig. 5) consist of a series of strong stoneware or cast iron porcelain lined pans connected with each other by a suitable vitrified or cast iron pipe at the bottom of the pan or bowl, and forming one piece with it. At the end of the last section a discharge valve is placed, being an upright pipe in which a plunger works, the latter being hollow so as to serve also as an overflow. As the plunger closes the outlet tightly, water is held back in the latrines to the height of the overflow in the plunger. The plunger or discharge valve is under control of a janitor, who raises this plug as often as found necessary to empty and clean the latrines. The water then rushes out of all the bowls with great force and in great quantity and everything is effectually carried out of the plunger chamber and trap underneath. Moreover, each bowl is provided with a supply pipe to rinse its sides each time the plug is raised. As soon as the plug is dropped, the bowls and connecting pipes fill with water and are, in a few moments, again ready for use. The bowls are generally formed so that no excremental matter can strike their sides; everything drops at once into water and is partly deodorized. The only part which may get foul in time is the plunger chamber, although this is not as likely to occur with latrines as with a single plunger closet.

Trough water closets are constructed in different manners, generally of brickwork with vertical side walls and round bottom, but sometimes of iron, holding a large quantity of water, with the bottom of trough inclined to the end, where the discharge plug is situated, and with a single or double row of seats placed above them. They are somewhat less expensive than latrines, and fulfil, in some cases, a good purpose.

A good substitute for latrines and trough closets may be found in a number of flushing rim all earthen hoppers such as Rhoads', Hellyer's, Demarest's, Huber's or the Niagara Hopper, with wooden rim attached to the bowl as a seat, each provided with a trap and flushed automatically either by Field's annular siphon tank or McFarland's tilting tank, as often as desired, the operation of emptying and flushing the closet being thus made entirely independent of the carelessness or forgetfulness of the persons using the closet.