No. 74: Near the knuckle…

Last night over dinner, Adam Lovell (CEO for the Water Services Association of Australia) set me a dare. In my presentation today at the International Water Summit, he dared me to address a particular current major water industry taboo.

Now the thing about taboos is that they are taboos. No one talks about them. Fortunately my presentation title was ‘Lessons for the water sector from the past 500 years’ which gave me a lot of scope. Had it been on, say, leakage or sludge treatment I would have had more of a challenge. I have given the presentation many times. It basically involves me recounting interesting and amusing facts from the past few centuries.  It’s a sort of Horrible Histories for the water sector. Slotting in Adam’s taboo was going to be an interesting challenge.  

Half way through the presentation I stated that there have always been taboos in the water sector. Toilet paper was a classic example. Before paper was a commodity people used linen towels that were washed (one assumes by the servants) and then reused. Soft toilet tissues were not invented until 1936, when they were sold in Harrods for ‘gentlemen’s noses’ (one assumes the tag line ‘wipe your xxxx on this’ was vetoed at an initial marketing meeting). It was an early taboo.

Having warmed the audience up to my taboo topic, I took it one stage further: Feminine hygiene products (a shiver of nervous shuffling echoed around the room as I said the words). Sanitary towels were not invented until the late 1800s. Indeed, Johnson and Johnsons first sanitary towel, known as Listers Towels, was a complete flop because they couldn’t come up with an acceptable marketing campaign. Tampons were not invented until 1933, and even then the Catholic church resisted. Taboos have been common in the water sector.  

Having now got my audience fully engaged I was ready to tackle the elephant. ‘What about todays taboos?’ I asked.

There are still things we don’t discuss. In the Middle East the water-based post-toilet washing practice (usually involving bidets or toilet hoses) is one of the largest areas for water consumption, yet we don’t talk about how to reduce this usage. As our water resources become increasingly scarce these are some of the modern taboos that we need to consider.

To be honest, the response from the audience was very encouraging. I had a number of people come up to me afterwards and applaud my approach. I sense they were just pleased I had stopped talking about tampons.

I am not sure what my reward was for delivering my side of the dare. However Adam and I spent an hour touring the truly fantastic Sheik Zayed Grand Mosque this evening and Adam paid for the taxi. It was 15 dirhams (about $3, or £2). Fair response? Probably.