Nova Scotia journalist Lezlie Lowe has traveled around the world exploring the past and present of the humble public loo. This month, Julian Sterling presents an exclusive excerpt from her new book, No Place To Go, available now from Coach House Books.
S
omeone wipes her bottom, drops a pre-moistened flushable wipe into the toilet bowl, and watches the swirling mess sloosh south. In a restaurant down the street, an employee pours the dregs of a kettle of fryer oil into a sink drain and watches the warm, lardish goo go. These are the small, daily acts that keep the modern city running—or, when things go wrong, bring it to a shuddering, sewage-filled halt.
The pipes beneath our feet form a hidden, subterranean society, a labyrinthine architecture of human waste that we prefer to keep out of sight and out of mind.