- Initial Statement of Beneficial Ownership (3)

FORM 3	UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20549 INITIAL STATEMENT OF BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP OF SECURITIES	OMB APPROVAL OMB Number: 3235-0104 Expires: November 30, 2011 Estimated average burden hours per response... 0.5
	Filed pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Section 17(a) of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 or Section 30(h) of the Investment Company Act of 1940

1. Name and Address of Reporting Person ^*

GATES WILLIAM H III

2. Date of Event Requiring Statement (MM/DD/YYYY) 8/23/2011

3. Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol

ECOLAB INC [ECL]

(Last) (First) (Middle)

ONE MICROSOFT WAY

4. Relationship of Reporting Person(s) to Issuer (Check all applicable)

_____ Director ___ X ___ 10% Owner
_____ Officer (give title below) ___ X ___ Other (specify below)
/ See Footnotes 1,2

(Street)

REDMOND, WA 98052

(City) (State) (Zip)

5. If Amendment, Date Original Filed (MM/DD/YYYY)

6. Individual or Joint/Group Filing (Check Applicable Line)

___ Form filed by One Reporting Person
_ X _ Form filed by More than One Reporting Person

Table I - Non-Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned
1.Title of Security (Instr. 4)	2. Amount of Securities Beneficially Owned (Instr. 4)	3. Ownership Form: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 5)	4. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 5)
Common Stock	18829586.0000 ⁽¹⁾	I	by Cascade Investment, L.L.C. ⁽²⁾

*Table II - Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned ( e.g.* , puts, calls, warrants, options, convertible securities)**
1. Title of Derivate Security (Instr. 4)	2. Date Exercisable and Expiration Date (MM/DD/YYYY)		3. Title and Amount of Securities Underlying Derivative Security (Instr. 4)		4. Conversion or Exercise Price of Derivative Security	5. Ownership Form of Derivative Security: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 5)	6. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 5)
1. Title of Derivate Security (Instr. 4)	Date Exercisable	Expiration Date	Title	Amount or Number of Shares	4. Conversion or Exercise Price of Derivative Security		6. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 5)

Explanation of Responses:
( 1)	For purposes of Section 13(d) of the Securities Exchange Act, as amended (the "Act"), Mr. Gates, as the sole member of Cascade Investment, L.L.C. ("Cascade") and co-trustee of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust ("Trust"), may be deemed to beneficially own more than 10% of the common stock of the issuer. Mr. Gates has no pecuniary interest in the shares held by the Trust. Neither the filing of this Form 3 nor any of its contents shall be deemed an admission that Mr. Gates and any other person or persons constitute a "group" under Section 13(d) and Mr. Gates expressly disclaims membership in a group.
( 2)	For purposes of Section 13(d) of the Securities Exchange Act, as amended (the "Act"), Cascade may be deemed to be a member of a "group" that beneficially owns more than 10% of the common stock of the issuer. Neither the filing of this Form 3 nor any of its contents shall be deemed an admission that Cascade and any other person or persons constitute a "group" under Section 13(d) or is otherwise subject to Section 16 of the Act and Cascade expressly disclaims membership in a group.

Remarks:
mlahpoa.txt, mlahlspoa.txt

Reporting Owners
Reporting Owner Name / Address	Relationships
Reporting Owner Name / Address	Director	10% Owner	Officer	Other
GATES WILLIAM H III ONE MICROSOFT WAY REDMOND, WA 98052		X		See Footnotes 1,2
CASCADE INVESTMENT LLC 2365 CARILLON POINT KIRKLAND, WA 98033				See Remarks

Signatures
/s/ Alan Heuberger, Attorney-in-fact for William H. Gates III		8/25/2011
^** Signature of Reporting Person		Date
/s/ Cascade Investment, L.L.C. by Alan Heuberger as attorney-in-fact for Michael Larson, Business Manager		8/25/2011
^** Signature of Reporting Person		Date

Reminder: Report on a separate line for each class of securities beneficially owned directly or indirectly.
*	If the form is filed by more than one reporting person, see Instruction 5(b)(v).
**	Intentional misstatements or omissions of facts constitute Federal Criminal Violations. See 18 U.S.C. 1001 and 15 U.S.C. 78ff(a).
Note:	File three copies of this Form, one of which must be manually signed. If space is insufficient, see Instruction 6 for procedure.
Persons who respond to the collection of information contained in this form are not required to respond unless the form displays a currently valid OMB control number.