POWER OF ATTORNEY

KNOW ALL BY THESE PRESENTS, That the undersigned hereby
constitutes and appoints each of Lawrence T. Bell,
Diana D. Lewis, Timothy P. Dordell and David F. Duvick,
signing singly, as the undersigned's true and lawful
attorney-in-fact to:

(1)	execute for and on behalf of the undersigned,
in the undersigned's capacity as an officer and/or
director of Ecolab Inc. (the "Company"), Forms 3, 4 and 5
in accordance with Section 16(a) of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934 and the rules thereunder, and any
documents necessary to facilitate the filing of
such Section 16 reports;

(2)	do and perform any and all acts for and on behalf of
the undersigned which may be necessary or desirable to
complete and execute any such Form 3, 4 or 5 and timely
file such form with the United States Securities and
Exchange Commission and any stock exchange or similar
authority; and

(3)	take any other action of any type whatsoever in
connection with the foregoing which, in the opinion of
such attorney-in-fact, may be of benefit to, in the
best interest of, or legally required by, the
undersigned, it being understood that the documents
executed by such attorney-in-fact on behalf of the
undersigned pursuant to this Power of Attorney shall
be in such form and shall contain such terms and
conditions as such attorney-in-fact may approve in
such attorney-in-fact's discretion.

The undersigned hereby grants to each such attorney-in-fact
full power and authority to do and perform any and every act
and thing whatsoever requisite, necessary, or proper to be
done in the exercise of any of the rights and powers herein
granted, as fully to all intents and purposes as the
undersigned might or could do if personally present, with
full power of substitution or revocation, hereby
ratifying and confirming all that such attorney-in-fact,
or such attorney-in-fact's substitute or substitutes,
shall lawfully do or cause to be done by virtue of
this Power of Attorney and the rights and powers
herein granted. The undersigned acknowledges that the
foregoing attorneys-in-fact, in serving in such
capacity at the request of the undersigned, are not
assuming, nor is the Company assuming, any of the
undersigned's responsibilities to comply with Section 16
of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

This Power of Attorney shall remain in full force and
effect until the undersigned is no longer required
to file Forms 3, 4 and 5 with respect to the
undersigned's holdings of and transactions in
securities issued by the Company, unless earlier
revoked by the undersigned in a signed writing
delivered to the foregoing attorneys-in-fact.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned has caused this
Power of Attorney to be executed as of this
12th day of July, 2004.


			/s/ Phillip J. Mason