The Big Necessity

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The Big Necessity Page 32

by Rose George


  If toilets were like mobile phones Marion W. Jenkins and Steven Sugden, “Rethinking Sanitation—Lessons and Innovation for Sustainability and Success in the New Millennium,” Human Development Report Sanitation Thematic Paper 2006, p. 10.

  A toilet shop was a great idea Steadman and Associates, “Social Marketing for Urban Sanitation Pilot Survey in Keko Mwanga B,” (Dar-es-Salaam: Steadman & Associates (T) Ltd., 2003).

  Punishing running costs Personal communication with Steven Sugden, April 2008.

  10. THE END

  $23.4 million toilet “An Astronomical Potty,” Time, January 25, 1993.

  Its precious fabrics Tom McNichol, “The Big Gulp,” Wired, August 2005.

  $40,000 to transport each gallon Ibid.

  A secondhand Russian toilet “NASA Buys $19 Million Russian Toilet System for International Space Station,” International Herald Tribune, July 5, 2007.

  Chronically short of water All water facts in this paragraph are taken from Robin Clarke and Jannet King, The Atlas of Water: Mapping the World’s Most Critical Resource (London: Earthscan, 2004), p. 19.

  One cubic meter of wastewater Ibid., p. 11.

  Bolted onto every sewage plant Australian Broadcasting Corporation, “From the Toilet to the Tap,” November 9, 2006, transcript available at http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/s1785041.htm.

  Upper Occoquan Sewage Authority Personal communication with Robert Bastian, EPA Office of Wastewater Management, April 2007.

  French minister of the environment “Eau: Une pub source de polémique,” TF1, January 17, 2007, transcript available at http://tf1.lci.fr/infos/sciences/environnement/0,,3381854,00-eau-pub-source-polemique-.html.

  $2.17 billion of only one brand Johnny Davis, “Would Madam Care to Taste the Cloud Juice?” Guardian, December 2, 2007.

  Out of an ordinary tap “Pepsi says Aquafina is tap water,” CNN, July 27, 2007; http://money.cnn.com/2007/07/27/news/companies/pepsi_coke/. A four-year study by the Natural Resources Defense Council into America’s bottled water industry found that a quarter of bottled “mineral” waters are in fact municipal tap water. Erik D. Olson, “Bottled Water: Pure Drink or Pure Hype?” Natural Resources Defense Council, February 1999, available at http://www.nrdc.org/water/drinking/bw/bwinx.asp.

  The consumer just doesn’t seem to care Davis, “Would Madam Care to Taste.”

  Leapfrog over dinosaur technologies Stephen Dale, “Regenerative Solutions for Managing Community-Generated Organic Waste,” Reports (magazine of the International Development Research Center), February 4, 2000, available at http://www.idrc.ca/en/ev-5574-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html.

  11.5 watts Graham Lawton, “Pee-Cycling,” New Scientist, December 20, 2006.

  A carbon impact “Future Water: The Government’s Water Strategy for England” (HM Government, 2008), p. 6.

  Can’t be good Jeff Donn, Martha Mendoza, and Justin Pritchard, “AP Probe Finds Drugs in Drinking Water,” Associated Press, March 9, 2008.

  David Stuckey “Submerged Anaerobic Membrane Bioreactor Awarded,” Water and Wastewater Newsletter 10/329 (March 17, 2008).

  One toilet per second Personal communication with Arno Rosemarin, Swedish Environment Institute, November 2006.

  Anything but stable WHO, “World Health Report 2007: A Safer Future: Global Public Health Security in the 21st Century” (Geneva: WHO Press, 2007), p. vi.

  11 percent of those died WHO, “World Health Report 2007,” p. 39.

  A disease of prosperous urban centers Ibid., p. 40.

  Planners and Searchers William Easterly, The White Man’s Burden: Why the West’s Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007).

  The excuse of ignorance Harold Farnsworth Gray, “Sewerage in Ancient and Modern Times,” Sewage Works Journal 12/5 (September 1940): 946.

  ____________

  FURTHER READING

  ____________

  Barnes, David S. The Great Stink of Paris and the Nineteenth-Century Struggle Against Filth and Germs. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006.

  Black, Maggie, and Ben Fawcett. The Last Taboo: Opening the Door on the Global Sanitation Crisis. London: Earthscan, 2008.

  Chadwick, Edwin. Commentaries on the Report of the Royal Commission on Metropolitan Sewage Discharge and on the Combined and Separate Systems of Town Drainage. London: Longmans & Co., 1885.

  Cockayne, Emily. Hubbub: Filth, Noise, & Stench in England, 1600–1770. New Haven/London: Yale University Press, 2007.

  Dundes, Alan. Life Is Like a Chicken Coop Ladder: A Study of German National Character Through Folklore. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1989.

  Dyke, George Vaughan. John Lawes of Rothamsted, Pioneer of Science, Farming and Industry. Harpenden, U.K.: Hoos Press, 1993.

  Eveleigh, David. Bogs, Baths and Basins: The Story of Domestic Sanitation. Stroud, Gloucestershire: Sutton, 2006.

  Gavin, Hector. Sanitary Ramblings: Being Sketches and Illustrations of Bethnal Green; a Type of the Condition of the Metropolis and Other Large Towns. London: John Churchill, 1848.

  Glassford, Charles F. O. Town Excreta: Its Utilization. London Sewage, Shall It Be Wasted? Or Economised? London, 1858.

  Horan, Julie L. Sitting Pretty, An Uninhibited History of the Toilet. London: Robson Books, 1998.

  Hoy, Suellen. Chasing Dirt: The American Pursuit of Cleanliness. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995.

  Inglis, David. A Sociological History of Excretory Experience: Defecatory Manners and Toiletry Techniques. Lewiston, N.Y.: Edwin Mellen Press, 2001.

  Jenkins, Joseph. The Humanure Handbook: A Guide to Composting Human Manure. White River Junction, Vt.: Chelsea Green Publishing, 2005.

  Kilroy, Roger. The Compleat Loo: A Lavatorial Miscellany. London: Gollancz, 1984.

  Lewin, Ralph A. Merde: Excursions in Scientific, Cultural and Socio-Historical Coprology. New York: Random House, 1999.

  Markham, Len. Yorkshire Privies: A Nostalgic Trip Down the Garden Path. Newbury, Berkshire, U.K.: Countryside Books, 1996.

  McLaughlin, Terence. Coprophilia, or a Speck of Dirt. London: Cassell, 1971.

  Miller, William Ian. The Anatomy of Disgust. Cambridge, Mass./London: Harvard University Press, 1997.

  Ogle, Maureen. All the Modern Conveniences: American Household Plumbing, 1840–1890. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996.

  Palmer, Roy. The Water Closet, a New History. Newton Abbot, U.K.: David & Charles, 1973.

  Pathak, Bindeshwar. Road to Freedom: A Sociological Study on the Abolition of Scavenging in India. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, 1998.

  Pomfret, John. Chinese Lessons: Five Classmates and the Story of the New China. New York: Henry Holt, 2006.

  Praeger, Dave. The Poop Report: How America Is Shaped by Its Grossest National Product. Los Angeles: Feral House, 2007.

  Pudney, John. The Smallest Room. London: Michael Joseph, 1954.

  Sabbath, Dan, and Mandell Hall. End Product: The First Taboo. New York: Urizen Books, 1977.

  Sale, Charles. The Specialist. London: Charles Putnam and Company, 1956.

  Smith, Stephen. Underground London: Travels Beneath the City Streets. London: Little, Brown, 2004.

  Stanbridge, H. H. History of Sewage Treatment in Britain. Maidstone, U.K.: Institute of Water Pollution Control, 1976–1977.

  Thekaekara, Mari Marcel. Endless Filth: The Saga of the Bhangis. London: Zed Books, 2003.

  Toscani, Oliviero. Cacas. Köln: Taschen, 1988.

  ____________

  FILMOGRAPHY

  ____________

  Boys from the Brown Stuff, dir. David Clews (Blast Films for BBC Two, 2007).

  Faecal Attraction, dir. Pradip Saha (Centre for Science and the Environment, 2006).

  Kenny: A Knight in Shining Overalls, dir. Clayton Jacobson (Thunderbox Films, 2006).

  Q2P, dir. Paromita Vohra (Devi Pictures, 2006).

  Sludge Diet, dir. Mario Desmarais (Productions Thalie, 2006).
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  The Casteless, dir. Jens Pedersen (Danish Broadcasting Corporation, 2006).

  The Snowball Effect, dir. Klee Benally (Indigenous Action Media, 2005).

  Waste Not Waste, dir. Joshka Wessels (Television for the Environment, 2008).

  ____________

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  ____________

  Thank you, first, to everyone who shared their stories and showed me their latrines with no embarrassment and impressive pride. Thank you to my interpreters and translators Red Chan, Richard Kishere, Hassan Zeini, Sayuka Tsujita, and Motoko Brimmicombe-Wood, for their serene professionalism, no matter how unpalatable the subject. For their hospitality and help, sometimes in the most inhospitable surroundings (sewers, slums), I am grateful to Kevin Buckley, Toshio Iwama and Chizuko, Joe Madiath, David Miller, Trevor, Audrey, Anza, Masana and Wanga Mulaudzi, Rob Smith, Rajesh Vora, and Simon Winchester. For everyone who pointed me in the direction of research material, sent comedy cards, and shared their sanitation history, thank you. Jack Sim, Steven Sugden, Clara Greed, Douglas Greeley, Carolyn Snyder, and Pete Kolsky answered endless follow-up questions with haste and good grace. Pradip Saha, Jens Pedersen, and TVE generously gave me copies of their documentaries. Claire and Julie, emergency nurses at Homerton A&E, provided care, cheer, and typing-friendly bandages at a critical time. Thank you.

  For their insight and corrective care while reading some or all of the book in draft form, I am grateful to Scott Chapman, Clara Greed, Les Jones, Pete Kolsky, Molly Mackey, Duncan Mara, Trevor Mulaudzi, Steven Sugden, and Tom Ridgway. Thomas Jones at the London Review of Books and June Thomas at Slate kindly published sewer stories along the way. My agents Erin Malone and Peter Straus were indefatigable in their faith and support, and thank you, Erin, for the Playmobil toilet cubicle, which became a surprisingly powerful procrastination deterrent. I am indebted to Riva Hocherman, Steve Hubbell, and Philip Gwyn Jones for their patient and careful editing, and for their wholehearted and comforting championing of a book about a difficult topic. Thanks to all in Rivel, especially the inhabitants of Ancien Café Rives, for providing a quiet writing refuge; and to Molly and Maggy for the walks. Thank you, finally, to my family, Sheila, John, Allison and Nicholas Wainwright, and Simon George, for being who they are.

  _____________

  INDEX

  _____________

  The index that appeared in the print version of this title does not match the pages in your eBook. Please use the search function on your eReading device to search for terms of interest. For your reference, the terms that appear in the print index are listed below.

  Akbar

  Alaimo, Anthony

  Aldrin, Buzz

  Alexandria Sanitation Authority

  American Standard

  Amoy Gardens

  Aquafina

  Auden, W. H.

  Australia

  Bangkok

  Bangladesh

  Banzhaf, John

  Barui, Sandhya

  Bazalgette, Joseph

  Behun, Tony

  Beijing

  Berger, John

  bhangi. See Dalits

  Bhumibol, King

  bidets, popularity of

  biogas digesters

  advantages of

  in China, history of

  human error and

  in India

  in urban areas

  BIOMA

  biomethane

  biosolids

  chemicals and pathogens in

  disposal of

  effect on health

  EPA standards on

  future of

  lawsuits on

  odors from

  production process of

  volume reduction of

  bladder leash

  Bloomberg, Michael

  Blue Plains wastewater plant

  bowel movements. See defecation; excrement

  Bramah, Joseph

  Brazil

  British Toilet Association

  Brussels

  bucket latrines

  Buckley, Kevin

  Cameron, J. A.

  Campos, Lenora

  Carbary, Paul

  caste system. See Hindu caste system

  Chadwick, Edwin

  Chan, Fruit

  Chan, Margaret

  Chapman, Scott

  Charles, Prince

  Chekhov, Anton

  Chen Qiaozhu

  China

  Beijing

  biogas digesters in (see biogas digesters)

  concept of voluntary activity

  Gan Quan Fang

  open-style toilets in

  use of excrement in

  cholera

  Clean Water Act

  Cloaca Maxima

  CLTS. See Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS)

  Cohen, Arnold (“Mr. Bidet”)

  combined sewer overflows (CSOs)

  combined sewer system (CSS)

  Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS)

  Conner, Shayne

  Cottonelle Fresh Rollwipes

  Craig, Larry

  Crapper, Thomas

  Cristaline

  cryptosporidium

  CSOs. See combined sewer overflows (CSOs)

  CSS. See combined sewer system (CSS)

  Cubitt, Thomas

  Cumming, Alexander

  Curtis, Val

  Cuyahoga River

  Dalits. See also manual scavengers

  DALY (Disability Added Life Year)

  Damon, Matt

  Dar es Salaam

  cholera outbreak in

  description of

  Gulper project in

  pit latrines in

  sanitation in

  slums in

  Darde, Sumitra Ramchendra

  Davis, Mike

  Dead Sea Scrolls

  defecation

  cleansing habits after

  open (see open defecation)

  as a private act

  progression of practice of

  religious texts on

  Delanoë, Bertrand

  Dharamsala

  diarrhea

  disgust

  Dogra, Chander Suta

  Douglas, Mary

  Drayton, Bill

  dry latrines

  Easterly, William

  ECLSS

  ecological sanitation

  Elias, Norbert

  Energy Policy Act (EPAct)

  excrement

  amount produced per year

  average weight of

  euphemisms for

  infections transmitted by

  use of, in China

  war and

  fecal stink bombs

  fecal transfusions

  feces. See excrement

  Fen Huang Hou (“Shit Queen”)

  fenfa

  flushers

  France

  Freud, Sigmund

  Friedman, Albert B.

  Galway

  Gan Quan Fang

  Gandhi, Mohandas K.

  Gauley, Bill

  Germany

  Ghosh, Gourisankar

  Gilman, Paul

  Goswami, Shibani

  Gram Vikas

  Gray, Harold Farnsworth

  Greed, Clara

  Greeley, Douglas

  Gregory, Joel

  Gulper

  Gustavsson, Mathias

  Halliday, Stephen

  Hanje, Mkuu

  Harington, John

  Harrison, Ellen

  Hayashi, Ryosuke (Rick)

  Hayes, Tyrone

  health messages

  Henri III

  Henry VIII

  Herodotus

  Hideoshi, Lord

  high-function toilets. See Washlets

  Hindu caste system. See also manual scavengers

  Holt, Nancy

  on environmental chemicals

  on EPA standards

  health problems of

  reco
rds on health problems

  Honeymooners, The

  Hong, J. X.

  hygiene, religion and

  Inax

  incontinence

  India

  biogas digesters in

  cleansing habits in

  Dharamsala

  Hindu caste system in

  Kolkata

  latrines in

  manual scavengers in (see manual scavengers)

  Nehru Nagar

  open defecation in (see open defecation)

  public toilets in

  Shanti Nagar

  simplified sewerage in

  Total Sanitation Campaign in

  wastewater treatment in

  Institute of Biogas

  Intelligent Toilet

  International Space Station

  Ireland

  Israel

  Italy

  James I

  Japan

  cleansing habits in

  toilet revolution in

  toilets in (see also TOTO; Washlets)

  Japan Toilet Association

  Jay-Z

  Jenkins, Marion

  Jenssen, Petter

  Kapoor, Mansingh

  Kar, Kamal

  Kasrils, Ronnie

  Kenyon, Peter

  Khutsong

  Kimberly-Clark

  King, Jean Ledwith

  Kipling, Rudyard

  Kira, Alexander

  Knollenberg, Joe

  Kolkata

  Kolsky, Pete

  Kshatriya

  latrines

  bucket

  definition of

  dry

  economic benefits of

  in India

  pit

  of the Romans

  leptospirosis

  Lewis, David

  Liebig, Justus von

  London

  cholera epidemics in

  public bathrooms in

  London sewers

  congealed fat in

  description of

  history of

  overflow in 2004

  rats in

  security of

  Louima, Abner

  Luo Guo Ri

  Luther, Martin

  Madiath, Joe

  on Gram Vikas’s difficulties

  on impact of sanitation

 

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