ECOLAB INC. — Director's Dealing 2007

Dec 8, 2007

SEC Form 4 — Statement of Changes in Beneficial Ownership

Issuer: ECOLAB INC (ECL)
CIK: 0000031462
Period of Report: 2007-12-05

Reporting Person: SCHMECHEL DANIEL J (Senior VP & Controller)

Derivative Transactions

Date	Security	Exercise Price	Code	Shares	A/D	Expiration	Underlying	Ownership
2007-12-05	Employee Stock Option (Right to Buy)	$49.42	A	21500	Acquired	2017-12-05	Common Stock (21500)	Direct

Holdings (Non-Derivative)

Security	Shares	Ownership
Common Stock	38821.908	Direct
Common Stock	2402.111	Indirect

Footnotes

F1: Includes 0.959 shares aquired on July 19, 2007 and 0.906 shares acquired by reporting person on October 19, 2006 under the Dividend Reinvestment Plan for shareholders of Ecolab sponsored by Computershare Trust Company, Inc.

F2: Number of UNITS in the Ecolab Stock Fund of the Ecolab Savings Plan (401(k) Plan) as of October 31, 2007. Includes 11.961 UNITS acquired since the reporting person's last report. (The 2,402.111 UNITS are the equivalent of approximately 4,484 shares of the issuer's Common Stock.)

F3: The option will be exercisable, on a cumulative basis, as to one-third of the option shares (excluding any fractitonal portion less than one share), on each of the first and second anniversaries of the date of grant and as to the remaining shares on the third anniversary of the date of grant; provided, however, that if a Change in Control (as that term is defined in the 2005 Ecolab Inc. Stock Incentive Plan) will occur, then the option, if it has been outstanding for at least six months from the date of grant, will become immediately exercisable in full.