Happy Birthday, John L. Leal, physician & water treatment expert who pioneered chlorine disinfection in the U.S. http://t.co/aHom1ef6YO
— American Water (@amwater) May 5, 2014
Click here for the Wikipedia entry. Here’s an excerpt:
John Laing Leal (1858–1914) was a physician and water treatment expert who, in 1908, was responsible for conceiving and implementing the first disinfection of a U.S. drinking water supply using chlorine. He was one of the principal expert witnesses at two trials which examined the quality of the water supply in Jersey City, New Jersey, and which evaluated the safety and utility of chlorine for production of “pure and wholesome” drinking water. The second trial verdict approved the use of chlorine to disinfect drinking water which led to an explosion of its use in water supplies of the U.S.
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