ACQUISITIONS AND DISPOSITIONS - Dispositions (Details) - item	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2017	Mar. 31, 2016
ACQUISITIONS AND DISPOSITIONS
Number of business dispositions	0	0

The number of business disposals of during the period.

No definition available.

Name:	ecl_NumberOfBusinessDispositions
Namespace Prefix:	ecl_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration