The Lawrence Experiment Station, now known as the Senator William X. Wall Experiment Station, was the world's first trial station for drinking
water purification
Water purification is the process of removing undesirable chemicals, biological contaminants, suspended solids, and gases from water. The goal is to produce water that is fit for specific purposes. Most water is purified and disinfected for hu ...
and
sewage treatment
Sewage treatment (or domestic wastewater treatment, municipal wastewater treatment) is a type of wastewater treatment which aims to remove contaminants from sewage to produce an effluent that is suitable for discharge to the surrounding e ...
. It was established in 1887 in
Lawrence, Massachusetts. A new, 22,000 square foot building opened in 1954 at 37 Shattuck Street. In 1975, the station was designated as a
National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark
__NOTOC__
The following is a list of Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks as designated by the American Society of Civil Engineers since it began the program in 1964. The designation is granted to projects, structures, and sites in the United State ...
by the
American Society of Civil Engineers
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
. In 1993, the facility was renamed after state senator William X. Wall, who had lobbied for the construction of the new station in the 1950s.
History
Lawrence Station was established by the Massachusetts State Board of Health, based on the earlier work of scientists
William Thompson Sedgwick
William Thompson Sedgwick (December 29, 1855 – January 25, 1921) was a teacher, epidemiologist, bacteriologist, and a key figure in shaping public health in the United States. He was president of many scientific and professional organizations du ...
and
Theobald Smith
Theobald Smith FRS(For) HFRSE (July 31, 1859 – December 10, 1934) was a pioneering epidemiologist, bacteriologist, pathologist and professor. Smith is widely considered to be America's first internationally-significant medical research scienti ...
who understood the linkage of water-borne germs to specific diseases. In 1886 the Massachusetts legislature required its Board of Health to adopt water pollution standards, which led to creation of the station under the direction of
Hiram Francis Mills, the "Father of American Sanitary Engineering".
MIT
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...
professors
William Ripley Nichols,
Ellen Swallow Richards
Ellen Henrietta Swallow Richards (December 3, 1842 – March 30, 1911) was an American industrial and safety engineer, environmental chemist, and university faculty member in the United States during the 19th century. Her pioneering work i ...
, and
Thomas Messinger Drown also played important early roles.
Allen Hazen
Allen Hazen (August 28, 1869 – July 26, 1930) was an expert in hydraulics, flood control, water purification and sewage treatment. His career extended from 1888 to 1930 and he is, perhaps, best known for his contributions to hydraulics with the ...
and
George W. Fuller
George Warren Fuller (December 21, 1868 – June 15, 1934) was an American sanitary engineer who was also trained in bacteriology and chemistry. His career extended from 1890 to 1934 and he was responsible for important innovations in water and ...
were in charge of some of the earliest research on sewage treatment and
drinking water filtration.
At first, the station's main mission was to develop practical methods for treating wastewater. Its task as to determine the effect of filtration as compared to natural oxidation, which it decided by experiments in its chemistry laboratory. During this time, Sedgwick and students invented techniques for identifying and quantitatively analyzing the microorganisms in water and sewage. These studies helped set the standards in
Massachusetts
Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...
, other states, and other countries.
A
bacteriological laboratory was added two years later. In 1893 when a
typhoid
Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by ''Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over several d ...
epidemic (Salmonella typhi) arose along the
Merrimack River
The Merrimack River (or Merrimac River, an occasional earlier spelling) is a river in the northeastern United States. It rises at the confluence of the Pemigewasset and Winnipesaukee rivers in Franklin, New Hampshire, flows southward into M ...
, the City of Lawrence began filtration of river water using Mills' slow sand filters, thus becoming the first American city to filter its water for disease prevention. This filtering led to marked reductions in typhoid fever rate and overall death rate in the city.
The facility is now part of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) - Division of Environmental Laboratory Sciences. It is responsible for providing technical and laboratory support to all DEP programs. In 2011, a $30 million, 13,000 square foot expansion was completed. The new
LEED certified
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a
green building certification program used worldwide. Developed by the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), it includes a set of rating systems for the design, constructio ...
addition also houses the state occupational safety laboratory.
Wall Experiment Station is State-of-the-Art, 'Green' Building following $30M Upgrade
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References
External links
ASCE landmark page
Photographic history of Lawrence Experiment Station
{{coord, 42.6983, -71.1655, region:US-MA, display=title
Landmarks in Massachusetts
Water treatment facilities
Buildings and structures in Lawrence, Massachusetts
Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks
1887 establishments in Massachusetts