Pail closet
![A Rochdale Corporation pail closet. The seated area is on the right. The chamber on the left was for the disposal of common household waste.](/Images/godic/202502/01/Rochdale_corporation_pail_closet5424.jpg")
![Diagram of a midden closet in Nottingham](/Images/godic/202502/01/Nottingham_midden_closet5424.jpg")
![A full pail, complete with lid (left), and an empty pail, ready to be returned. These are Rochdale pails, made from wood. Manchester's pails were made from galvanised iron, with India-rubber beading around the lids to seal them.[10]](/Images/godic/202502/01/Full_pail_and_empty_pail5424.jpg")
![Cutaway section of a Goux pail, with mould](/Images/godic/202502/01/Goux_pail_bucket_and_mould5424.jpg")
A pail closet or pail privy was a room used for the disposal of human excreta, under the pail system (or Rochdale system) of waste removal. The closet was a small outdoor privy which contained a seat, underneath which a portable receptacle was placed. This pail, into which the user would defecate, was removed and emptied by the local authority on a regular basis. The contents would either be incinerated or composted into fertiliser.