The Other Dark Matter

November 15, 2021
Journalist Zeldovich’s debuts with a take on waste that’s anything but wasteful—it’s a fascinating dig into the history and science of handling human excrement. To make a case that sewage “may not be pretty to look at, but it’s a treasure,” Zeldovich begins with her own young interest in the topic: as a child, she watched her grandfather prepare their farm for the “long Russian winter” by emptying the septic system. Unbothered by the smell, she learned early of waste’s agricultural benefit as fertilizer and compost. In subsequent chapters, she delivers a history of waste, touring the lavatories and sewers of ancient Rome and describing how collectors in Japan “went from door to door” gathering so-called “night soil” to sell to farmers. Equally remarkable are Zeldovich’s sections on the development and evolution of wastewater treatment plants—DC Water’s
sewage treatment plant, in the nation’s capital, for example, bills itself as a “resource recovery facility” that extracts water, energy, “and a Grade A fertilizer product... from the city’s sludge.” Zeldovich is at home with an awkward subject, making for a grossly engrossing and vivid survey. Readers won’t take the “flush and forget” mindset for granted again.