s*** Book, the big necessity is very informative about clean water. Rose George's book is one of the best.

Excreta, turds, poo, s***, etc. are all terms for something that induces disgust in most. This response is innate and indeed wired into use at a visceral level and a key to survival.

All we need to know about s***, is that we want to be away from it. Sadly many can't get away from it, they end up living, inhaling and consuming it. This leads to death and disease.

In development people refer politely to water borne disease leading to over 2.2m child deaths per year according to the UN. Water borne diseases in most instances relate to drinking s*** polluted water. Too put that in context AIDs is estimated to kill 2.0 million and malaria around 1-1.5 million per year. S*** kills.

This is a problem that the now developed world has kind of solved and that the developing world is still working on. Like all human endemic problems it is rooted in behaviors, beliefs and fears.

Understanding s*** and what happens to it is key to human development as much as economics, corruption etc. and curing diseases are. Indeed, solve the s*** problem and many of the diseases that limit human development and factors related to GDP growth may resolve themselves a bit.

Rose George has written a very entertaining and important book entitled The Big Necessity in which she travels the world discovering the cultural issues and mores around handling waste. Her voice is that of the economist magazine, for which she once wrote, humorous, well read and considered.

If you are interested in the human condition and understanding the behaviors, and issues that may better it, read this book.

I am fascinated by economic anthropology and sustainable development and appreciate the field work that George has done in trying to understand what the solution to the problem of s*** may be. Solutions aren't just about plumbing and digging toilets. Like most aid dropping in money or technical help rarely does anything but minimize acute crises.

Marketing, behaviour, economics and technology, distribution and other issues. Consider it a business problem/opportunity. This is a fascinating book about something that gets very little attention relative to its impact on limiting the human condition and capabilities.

Rose George's description of techniques used to change a village's behaviour, involve economic incentives and changing beliefs while raising awareness. The lessons about motivating people for sustained change are as relevant to the business manager as they are to the aid worker. technocrats and major aid institutions often fail in these areas.