John Laing Leal (May 5, 1858 – March 13, 1914) was an American 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 Chlorine is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Cl and atomic number 17. The second-lightest of the halogens, it appears between fluorine and bromine in the periodic table and its properties are mostly intermediate betwee ...

. He was one of the principal expert witnesses at two trials which examined the quality of the water supply in

Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.

Early life and education

John L. Leal was born in

Andes, New York Andes is a town in Delaware County, New York, United States. The population was 1,114 at the 2020 census.2020 US Census, Andes, Delaware County, New York https://www.census.gov/search-results.html?searchType=web&cssp=SERP&q=Andes%20town,%20D ...

, in 1858. In 1862, his father, John R. Leal who was a physician, joined the 144th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment. John R. Leal saw service in a number of areas during the Civil War including Folly Island during the

Siege of Charleston The siege of Charleston was a major engagement and major British victory in the American Revolutionary War, fought in the environs of Charles Town (today Charleston), the capital of South Carolina, between March 29 and May 12, 1780. The Britis ...

, South Carolina. He contracted a chronic case of amoebic dysentery (most likely from contaminated drinking water) at Folly Island from which he suffered for the next 19 years before the disease caused his death in 1882. In 1867, Dr. John R. Leal moved his family from Andes to the rapidly growing industrial city of

Paterson, New Jersey Paterson ( ) is the largest City (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Passaic County, New Jersey, Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

) from 1876 to 1880. John L. Leal attended medical school at the

Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons (VP&S) is the graduate medical school of Columbia University, located at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan. Founded i ...

from 1880 to 1884 where he received his medical degree.

Career

After obtaining his medical degree, Leal opened a medical practice in Paterson, New Jersey, and was appointed City Physician in 1886. Along with other physicians, he founded the outpatient clinic at Paterson General Hospital in 1887 and worked there until 1892. In 1888, he married Amy Arrowsmith and their only son, Graham, was born within the year. Leal's career in Paterson city government continued with his appointment as Health Inspector in 1891 and Health Officer in 1892. As Health Officer, Leal was responsible for the identification of epidemics of communicable diseases and for the disinfection of the homes of the afflicted. He also oversaw the public water supply and was responsible for constructing the growing network of sewers to remove domestic and industrial wastes from the City. To prevent the spread of contagious diseases, he was responsible for building an Isolation Hospital in Paterson in 1897, which, at the time, was considered a model facility. He published several papers during his tenure as Health Officer including one that described the cause of a waterborne

typhoid fever 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 ...

outbreak in Paterson. In 1899, Leal left the city's service and became the sanitary adviser to the East Jersey Water Company. His decision to focus on matters of

public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the det ...

and the safety of drinking water was driven in part by his personal experiences and from the influence of

Garret Hobart Garret Augustus Hobart (June 3, 1844 – November 21, 1899) was the 24th vice president of the United States, Vice President of the United States, serving from 1897 until his death in 1899. He was the sixth American vice president to die in ...

, who became the 24th Vice President of the United States in 1896. Toward the end of his life, Leal was President of the Board of Health for the City of Paterson.

Professional associations

Leal belonged to a large number of professional associations. In 1884, he was elected a member of the Medical Society of New Jersey, and he was an active member of the Passaic County Medical Society. In 1900, he was Vice President of that organization. Despite his concentration on water treatment affairs after 1899, he was still involved in the Passaic County Medical Society, serving on the Legislative Committee in 1900 and in 1901 he was President. In 1905, he was active in the State Medical Society and he served as a permanent delegate from Passaic County. In 1903, Leal was president of the New Jersey Sanitary Association. On the program for the Sanitary Association meeting on December 4–5, 1903, Leal was noted for giving the President's Address on “Present Attitude of Sanitary Science”.

Moses N. Baker Moses N. Baker (January 26, 1864 – February 7, 1955) was a noted editor and author in the field of drinking water history and technology. His most important book is still used today: ''The Quest for Pure Water: The History of Water Purifica ...

was chair of the Garbage Disposal committee of the association and at a topic session entitled Sewage Disposal in New Jersey, the speakers included

Rudolph Hering Rudolph Hering (February 26, 1847 – May 30, 1923) was a founder of modern environmental technology. Biography Rudolph Hering was born in Philadelphia on February 26, 1847. He came to Dresden at age 13 to attend school there and studied civil ...

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 ...

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 ...

and the New Jersey water supply expert Charles A. Vermeule. These professionals interacted with one another throughout their careers. He was a member of the American Medical Association and the American Public Health Association. At the APHA annual meeting in 1897, Leal read a paper entitled, “House Sanitation with Reference to Drainage, Plumbing, and Ventilation”. At the 1902 annual meeting of the APHA in New Orleans, Leal was elected second vice-president of the organization.

Jersey City water supply

In 1899, Jersey City entered into a contract with Patrick H. Flynn to build a water supply to replace the one that was significantly contaminated by sewage. A large dam was built on the

Rockaway River The Rockaway River is a tributary of the Passaic River, approximately 35 mi (56 km) long, in northern New Jersey in the United States. The upper course of the river flows through a wooded mountainous valley, whereas the lower course flo ...

which resulted in the formation of Boonton Reservoir that had a capacity of over 7 billion gallons of water. During construction, the project was taken over by the Jersey City Water Supply Company (JCWSC), which was a private water company that employed John L. Leal as its sanitary adviser. Included in Leal's responsibilities was the removal of illegally constructed privies and other obvious sources of sewage contamination from the watershed above Boonton Reservoir. The dam, reservoir and 23-mile pipeline was completed and on May 4, 1904, water from the project was first delivered to Jersey City. As was common at this time, no treatment of any kind was provided to the water supply. City officials were not pleased with the project as delivered by the JCWSC and filed a lawsuit in the

Chancery Court The Court of Chancery was a court of equity in England and Wales that followed a set of loose rules to avoid a slow pace of change and possible harshness (or "inequity") of the common law. The Chancery had jurisdiction over all matters of equ ...

of New Jersey. Among the many complaints by Jersey City officials was the contention that the water served to the city was not "pure and wholesome" as required by the contract.McGuire, Michael J. (2013). ''The Chlorine Revolution: Water Disinfection and the Fight to Save Lives'', Denver, CO: American Water Works Association.

Lawsuit and trials

The first trial was held before Frederick W. Stevens, Vice Chancellor of the Chancery Court of New Jersey. The first day of trial was February 20, 1906, and the trial was not completed until dozens of witnesses had been heard over 40 days of trial comprising hundreds of exhibits and thousands of pages of testimony.Between the Mayor and Aldermen of Jersey City, Complainant, and Patrick H. Flynn and Jersey City Water Supply Company, Defendants: On Bill, etc. (In Chancery of New Jersey) 12 vols. n.p.: privately printed. 1908-10, 1-6987. On May 1, 1908, Vice Chancellor Stevens issued a 100-page opinion that supported many of the contract claims made by the JCWSC but, most importantly, found (for the plaintiffs) that two to three times per year, water that could not be considered "pure and wholesome" was delivered to Jersey City from the Boonton Reservoir water supply. In his final decree dated June 4, 1908, Stevens ordered the JCWSC to pay for the construction of sewers to remove contaminants from the Rockaway River watershed or create "other plans or devices" which could be used instead to produce water of the required purity. The JCWSC was given three months to come up with "other plans or devices" and to present them to a special master, Justice William J. Magie. As a physician who was trained in bacteriology, Leal knew that chlorine killed bacteria. As Health Officer for Paterson, Leal used solutions of chloride of lime (

calcium hypochlorite Calcium hypochlorite is an inorganic compound with formula Ca(OCl)2. It is the main active ingredient of commercial products called bleaching powder, chlorine powder, or chlorinated lime, used for water treatment and as a bleaching agent. Thi ...

) to "disinfect" homes where scarlet fever, diphtheria and other communicable diseases were found. He was also aware of previous efforts to use chlorine in drinking water supplies. In 1897, high concentrations of chlorine derived from chloride of lime were used to disinfect the reservoir and pipelines of Maidstone, England, after an outbreak of typhoid fever. In 1905, Dr. Alexander Cruickshank Houston devised a crude

sodium hypochlorite Sodium hypochlorite (commonly known in a dilute solution as bleach) is an Inorganic chemistry, inorganic chemical compound with the chemical formula, formula NaOCl (or NaClO), comprising a sodium cation () and a hypochlorite anion (or ). It may ...

feed system to kill typhoid bacteria in the water supply of

Lincoln, England Lincoln () is a cathedral city, a non-metropolitan district, and the county town of Lincolnshire, England. In the 2021 Census, the Lincoln district had a population of 103,813. The 2011 census gave the Lincoln Urban Area, urban area of Lincoln, ...

, that was being treated with an inadequate filtration system. During Leal's testimony in the second trial, he made extensive references to the Lincoln example. He also stated in the trial that he had conducted laboratory disinfection experiments using chlorine as early as 1898. On June 19, 1908, Leal hired

to construct a

chlorination Chlorination may refer to: * Chlorination reaction, a halogenation reaction using chlorine * Water chlorination Water chlorination is the process of adding chlorine or chlorine compounds such as sodium hypochlorite to water. This method is use ...

plant at Boonton Reservoir to disinfect the water for Jersey City as a representation of "other plans or devices". At the time, Fuller was, perhaps, the most respected sanitary engineer in the U.S. In 99 days, Fuller designed the chlorination plant and supervised its construction. Dilute solutions of chloride of lime were accurately fed by gravity to the water being treated. Fuller based his design on the successful

aluminum sulfate Aluminium sulfate is a salt with the formula Al2 (SO4)3. It is soluble in water and is mainly used as a coagulating agent (promoting particle collision by neutralizing charge) in the purification of drinking water and wastewater treatment plant ...

feed system that he had built at the Little Falls Water Treatment Plant in 1902. The chlorination plant at Boonton Reservoir treating an average of 40 million gallons per day went on-line on September 26, 1908. Since then, water from this source has been continuously chlorinated, making it the water supply with the longest history of disinfection. The second trial began on September 29, 1908, before Justice

William J. Magie William Jay Magie (December 9, 1832 – January 15, 1917) was a justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court from 1880 to 1900, serving as chief justice from 1897 to 1900. Background Magie was born on December 9, 1832, in Elizabeth in Union County, w ...

. The purpose of this trial was to determine if the chloride of lime system that had been installed by JCWSC was effective in controlling harmful bacterial levels and capable of providing water that was "pure and wholesome". Over 38 days, dozens of witnesses were heard and hundreds of exhibits were submitted. More than three thousand pages recorded the testimony of expert witnesses for both sides including William T. Sedgwick,

George C. Whipple George Chandler Whipple (March 2, 1866 – November 27, 1924) was an American civil engineer and an expert in the field of sanitary microbiology. His career extended from 1889 to 1924 and he is best known as a co-founder of the Harvard School of P ...

Earle B. Phelps Earle Bernard Phelps (July 10, 1876 – May 29, 1953) was a chemist, bacteriologist and sanitary expert who served in governmental positions and as an academic in some of the leading universities in the U.S. He is known for his contributions in se ...

, Charles-Edward A. Winslow and a number of other experts for the plaintiffs and John L. Leal,

and

(among others) for the defendants. Justice Magie issued his ruling on May 9, 1910, which was a victory for the defendants. Chlorine was an acceptable treatment for the removal of

pathogens In biology, a pathogen ( el, πάθος, "suffering", "passion" and , "producer of") in the oldest and broadest sense, is any organism or agent that can produce disease. A pathogen may also be referred to as an infectious agent, or simply a germ ...

from drinking water and for making the water "pure and wholesome" for human consumption. “I do therefore find and report that this device is capable of rendering the water delivered to Jersey City, pure and wholesome, for the purposes for which it is intended, and is effective in removing from the water those dangerous germs which were deemed by the decree to possibly exist therein at certain times.” The ruling by Justice Magie was supported on appeal by the New Jersey Court of Errors and Appeals and the New Jersey Supreme Court.

Legacy

Leal's application of chlorine disinfection technology and his defense of the chemical's use, contributed significantly to the eradication of typhoid fever and other waterborne diseases in the U.S.. On September 26, 1908, only the Jersey City water supply was disinfected using chlorine. A survey of water utilities showed that by 1914, over 21 million people were being served chlorinated water in the U.S. By 1918, more than 1,000 North American cities were using chlorine to disinfect their water supplies, which served approximately 33 million people. Statistics on the typhoid fever death rate in the U.S. showed a dramatic decrease in deaths due to this dreaded disease after the wide introduction of chlorine for disinfection.

Filtration Filtration is a physical separation process that separates solid matter and fluid from a mixture using a ''filter medium'' that has a complex structure through which only the fluid can pass. Solid particles that cannot pass through the filter ...

of water supplies contributed to the decrease in the typhoid fever death rate but chlorination is generally acknowledged as having a major impact on increased life expectancy in the U.S. Unfortunately, Leal is seldom given credit for his pioneering work in the disinfection of drinking water. George A. Johnson was a plant operator and laboratory technician who worked on the chlorination plant at Boonton Reservoir. His later writings gave no credit to Leal and, by inference, Johnson took the credit for the decision to use chlorine on the Jersey City water supply. The record shows that Leal came up with the idea to disinfect the water supply of Jersey City and he should be given the credit for this major advance in public health. John L Leal Grave Monument

On May 5, 2013, a number of people gathered at the gravesite of Leal in

Paterson, New Jersey Paterson ( ) is the largest City (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Passaic County, New Jersey, Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.American Water Works Association American Water Works Association (AWWA) is an international non-profit, scientific and educational association founded to improve water quality and supply. Established in 1881, it is a lobbying organization representing a membership (as of 2012) o ...

and two great grandsons of Leal. In August 2013, the

American Water Works Association American Water Works Association (AWWA) is an international non-profit, scientific and educational association founded to improve water quality and supply. Established in 1881, it is a lobbying organization representing a membership (as of 2012) o ...

established a major annual award in honor of Leal. Entitled the ''Dr. John L. Leal Award'', the purpose of the award is to recognize any individual, group, or organization that has made a notable and outstanding public health contribution to the water profession. The first award was given at the AWWA annual conference in June 2014 to

Michael J. McGuire Michael John McGuire (born June 29, 1947) is an American environmental engineer and writer whose career has focused on drinking water quality improvement. He has been recognized for his expertise in the control of trace organic and inorganic cont ...

.Dr. John L. Leal Award
Retrieved 2013-09-01.

References

External links

PBS Video on Development of Chlorine
*
Water Chlorination HistoryJohn L. Leal and public healthAWWA Water Industry Hall of Fame
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leal, John L. 1858 births 1914 deaths Environmental health practitioners Princeton University alumni Physicians from New Jersey Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons alumni People from Andes, New York People from Paterson, New Jersey American public health doctors