The Big Necessity (44 page)

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.

 

 

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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).

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).

 

 

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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.

 

 

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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

records 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

mission of

on shame from open defecation

on unused latrines

Madonna

Makhanya, Portia

Mandela, Nelson

manual scavengers

alternative employment for

economic reasons for

effect of Sulabh on

Gandhi's objections to use of

laws on

living conditions of

MaP test

MAPET

Mara, Duncan

Marcic, Peter

Martin, Chris

Mathre, Rahamath

Mbeki, Thabo

McBride, Murray

MDGs.
See
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)

Mechi, Alderman

Milan

Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)

Milorganite

Milwaukee

Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD)

mobile toilet trucks

Mohan, Chandra

Molotch, Harvey

Morgan, Peter

Morris, Andrew

Mosmoil

Moulik, Soma Ghosh

Mulaudzi, Trevor (“Dr. Shit”)

Mumbai community toilet blocks

Mure, Yoko

 

Nag, Milon

NASA

National Farmers Union

Nehru, Jawaharlal

Nehru Nagar

Neorest

Netherlands

New York City sewers

night soil.
See
excrement

 

Ocean Dumping Act

odors

Ogden, Stephen

Okura, Kazuchika

open defecation

in Bangladesh

dangers of

embarrassment from

fines for

government efforts to end

in Mosmoi

in Orissa

in Samiapalli

in Shanti Nagar

villages' pride in ending

open-style toilets

Operators' Challenge

Orangi Pilot Project

Orissa

outcastes.
See
Dalits

 

Pakistan

Panday, Umesh

Paris

parusesis

patenting

Pathak, Bindeshwar

Pennock, Daniel

Peot, Chris

Pepys, Samuel

Perez, Eddy

Peru

Pinker, Steven

Pinney, Virginia Ruth

pit latrines

Plan eco-san toilet

potty parity movement

privacy

Privy Council

public necessities.
See
public toilets

Public Toilet
(Chan)

public toilets in Bangkok

in Beijing

in Dewsbury

as good economic management

historical rise of

illicit activities in

innovation and invention in

lawsuits over

in Mumbai

as a sign of civilization

SPARC toilet blocks

in the United States

purity rituals

 

Qi Furen