more safedrinkingwater

Well folks, it has been a long run, but the time has come to end my blog, This Day in Water History. I have been doing it since September 1, 2012—over eight years. That calculates out to be 3,160 blog posts. I have 720 followers and the blog has reached over 300,000 views. I will leave the blog up as long as possible as a source for anyone interested in water history. There are several reasons…

May 19, 1909: Disposal of Chicago’s Sewage

May 19, 1909:  Municipal Journal and Engineer article. Disposal of Chicago’s Sewage. “The greatest sanitary undertaking the world has ever seen is the work being done by the Sanitary District of Chicago in securing a pure water supply and a disposal of the sewage from this mammoth city. Prior to the beginning of this project, all the sewage from the city was emptied into Lake Michigan, either…

May 18, 1897: Dow Chemical Founding and Connection to Bleach

May 18, 1897:  “The Dow Chemical Company incorporated, based on Dow’s plan to manufacture, sell bleach on commercial scale; 1898 – first commercial scale production of bleach begins; Dow-in-diamond mark created to resolve product shipping problems.” Commentary: Bleaching powder (or chloride of lime, also known as calcium hypochlorite) was used by Dr. John L. Leal on the Jersey City water supply…

May 17, 1839: Birth of John R. Bartlett, New York City Water Schemer

May 17, 1839:  Birth of John R. Bartlett, water schemer. The East Jersey Water Company was formed on August 1, 1889 for the stated purpose of supplying Newark, New Jersey with a safe water supply.  All of the men who were shareholders of the new company were identified with the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company. However, the company’s vision extended far beyond a water supply for Newark. The…

May 16, 1845: Birth of Elie Metchnikoff and Chlorine Production at the Cellular Level

May 16, 1845:  Birth of Elie Metchnikoff, Nobel Prize winner. On May 16, 1845, [also listed as May 15] Elie Metchnikoff was born in a village near Kharkoff, Russia (about 350 miles northeast of Odessa in what is now the country of Ukraine).  He studied natural sciences at the University of Kharkoff graduating after only two years.  He attended a number of universities in Europe after his degree…

May 15, 1913: Cleveland Filtration Editorial

May 15, 1913:  Engineering News editorial. The Water Filtration Question at Cleveland. “The remarkably low typhoid death rate of Cleveland, Ohio, in 1912 (about 6 per 100,000) seems on its face to be wholly incompatible with the contention of the local board of health and certain members of the city council that the water-supply is so badly polluted as to make the immediate construction of a…

May 14, 1914: Change the Map of NYC—Fill in the East River

May 14, 1914: Municipal Journal article. Proposal to Change Map of New York City. “New York City, N. Y.-The somewhat startling changes in the topography of New York proposed by Dr. T. Kennard Thomson have again come in for further discussion in connection with the various sewage disposal plans proposed for the city. Dr. Thomson says that the rivers and harbors of the city are becoming cesspools…

May 13, 1899: NY Times Articles on Sanitary Engineering Books; 1973: Hazardous Drinking Water

May 13, 1899: An extraordinary article in the New York Times by J. James R. Croes summarized and reviewed books and periodicals on “The Latest and Best in Current Literature–Sanitary Engineering Books.” The article listed the important sanitary engineering books that had been published up to that date, including: A Treatise on Water Supply and Hydraulic Engineering by John T. Fanning; Elements of…

May 12, 1909: Inverted Sewer Siphon for Chicago

May 12, 1909:  Municipal Journal and Engineer article. Inverted Sewer Siphon. “The accompanying drawing illustrates a rather unique piece of sewer work, designed by Mr. C. D. Hill, Chief Engineer of the Sewer Department of the Board of Local Improvements of the City of Chicago, to carry the Kedzie avenue sewer under the Illinois and Michigan Canal.  The Kedzie avenue sewer is a 9-foot circular…

May 11, 1885: Birth of John R. Baylis

May 11, 1885:  Birth of John R. Baylis. “John Robert Baylis (1885–1963) was an American chemist and sanitary engineer. His career extended from about 1905 to 1963 and he is best known for his work in applied research to improve drinking water purification. Baylis was born in rural Mississippi (Eastabuchie, Jones County) but lived most of his adult life in northern U.S. states. He attended…

May 10, 1917: Cleaning Catch Basins in Louisville; 1920: Death of John Wesley Hyatt

May 10, 1917:  Municipal Journal article. Cleaning Catch Basins in Louisville. “Louisville, Ky., is cleaning its catch-basins with a machine designed especially for this purpose, at one-fifth the cost of doing the work by the ordinary shovel and bucket method. There are a few more than 7,000 catch basins in the city, and previous to 1917 these had been cleaned by hand, as is the practice in most…

May 9, 1922: Birth of Edwin E. Geldreich; 1936: Contra Costa Water District Incorporated.

May 9, 1922:  Birth of Edwin E. Geldreich. Born May 9, 1922, he was the only child of his late parents Edwin E. Geldreich, Sr. and Myrtle E. Geldreich (Tuthill) of Cincinnati. A graduate of Hughes High School (Class of 1940), he went on to receive Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in the biological sciences from the University of Cincinnati. He served in the US Army in Europe from March 1944 to…

May 8, 2015: Croton Water Filtration Plant Activated; 1961: First Practical Seawater Desalination Plant

May 8, 2015:  Croton Water Filtration Plant Activated. “Largest Underground Filtration Plant in the United States has the Capacity to Filter up to 290 Million Gallons of Drinking Water Each Day;  Will Protect the City against the Possibility of Drought and the Effects of Climate Change Photos of the Project and Maps are available on DEP’s Flickr Page New York City Department of Environmental…

May 7, 1848: Public Health Act, England

May 7, 1848:  “Public Health Act is passed by a reluctant Parliament fearful of spread of cholera. National Board of Health is formed and leads local boards to regulate water supply, sewerage, offensive trades.” “The first local boards [of health] were created under the Public Health Act 1848 (11 & 12 Vict. c.63). The aim of the act was to improve the sanitary condition of towns and populous…

May 6, 1915: Sweetwater, Texas Waterworks

May 6, 1915:  Municipal Journal article. Sweetwater Waterworks System and Reservoir. “Sweetwater, Tex.-The city of Sweetwater is building a municipal waterworks system at a cost of $320,000. The sources of the supply are numerous springs in the headwaters of Sweetwater creek, and the runoff of fifty-four square miles of uninhabited rocky hills, in which is to be a billion and a quarter gallon…

May 5, 1858: Birth of John L. Leal

May 5, 1858:  163rd anniversary of the birth of John L. Leal, physician and water treatment expert who pioneered chlorine disinfection in the U.S. There are many unsung heroes who contributed significantly to public health at the turn of the 20th century. John L. Leal is one of them and after reading this, I think you will agree that he did more than most to save people’s lives. John L. Leal was…

May 3, 1911: Deodorizing Sewer Gas

May 3, 1911:  Municipal Journal article. Deodorizing Sewer Gas. “While fortunately the majority of American cities do not seem to be troubled with sewer gas, as are so many English cities, there is occasionally one on this side of the ocean which, on account of poor construction or lack of proper maintenance, finds it necessary to adopt some method of diminishing the nuisance from such gas. Among…