John L. Leal
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
John L. Leal
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 |
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Born
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May 5, 1858
Andes, New York |
Died
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March 13, 1914 (aged 55)
Paterson, New Jersey |
Resting place
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Cedar Lawn Cemetery, Paterson, New
Jersey
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Education
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BA, Princeton College, 1880; MA,
Princeton College, 1883; MD, Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons,
1884.
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Occupation
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Physician and sanitary adviser to
drinking water companies
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Known for
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First use of chlorine for
disinfection of a U.S. drinking water supply
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Awards
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Water Industry Hall of Fame,American
Water Works Association, 1974.
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John
Laing Leal (May 5, 1858 – March 13, 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 across the U.S.
Contents
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2Career
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6Legacy
John
L. Leal was born in Andes, New York,
in 1858. In 1862, his father, John R. Leal who was a physician, joined the144th 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, South Carolina.[1] 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.[2]
In
1867, Dr. John R. Leal moved his family from Andes to the rapidly growing
industrial city of Paterson, New Jersey.
John L. Leal received his primary education at the Paterson Seminary. He
attended Princeton College (now Princeton University)
from 1876 to 1880.[3] John
L. Leal attended medical school at the Columbia
College of Physicians and Surgeons from 1880 to 1884 where he
received his medical degree.[4]
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 Arrow Smith 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.[5] He
published several papers during his tenure as Health Officer including one that
described the cause of a waterborne typhoid fever outbreak in Paterson.[6]
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 and the safety of drinking
water was driven in part by his personal experiences and from the influence of Garret Hobart, 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.
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.[7] In
1905, he was active in the State Medical Society and he served as a permanent
delegate from Passaic County.[8]
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 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, Allen Hazen, George W. Fuller and the New Jersey water
supply expert Charles A. Vermeule.[9] 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”.[10] At
the 1902 annual meeting of the APHA in New Orleans, Leal was elected second
vice-president of the organization.[11]
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 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 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.[12]
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.[13] 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.[12]
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)
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 ofMaidstone, England, after an outbreak of
typhoid fever. In 1905, Dr. Alexander Cruickshank Houston devised a crude sodium hypochlorite feed
system to kill typhoid bacteria in the water supply of Lincoln, England, 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.[12]
On
June 19, 1908, Leal hired George W. Fuller to construct a chlorination plant
at Boonton Reservoir to disinfect the water for Jersey City as a representation
of "other plans or devices".[14] 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.[15] Fuller
based his design on the successful aluminum 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.[12]
The
second trial began on September 29, 1908, before Justice William J. Magie. 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, Earle B. Phelps, Charles-Edward A.
Winslow and a number of other experts for the plaintiffs and
John L. Leal,George W. Fuller and Rudolph Hering (among others) for the
defendants.[13] 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 from drinking water and for
making the water "pure and wholesome" for human consumption.[12]
“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.”[16]
The
ruling by Justice Magie was supported on appeal by the New Jersey Court of
Errors and Appeals and the New Jersey Supreme Court.[12]
Death
rates for typhoid fever in the U.S. 1906–1960
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.[17] By
1918, more than 1,000 North American cities were using chlorine to disinfect
their water supplies, which served approximately 33 million people.[18]
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 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.[19][20]
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.[21]
Grave
Monument to Dr. John L. Leal
On
May 5, 2013, a number of people gathered at the gravesite of Leal in Paterson, New Jersey and
dedicated a monument to him as a "Hero of Public Health." Present at
the dedication were members of the New Jersey Section of the American
Water Works Association and two great grandsons of Leal.[22]
In
August 2013, the American
Water Works Association 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.[23]
1.
Jump up^ McKee,
J.H. (1903). Back in War Times: History of the 144th Regiment, New York
Volunteer Infantry. n.p.:Horace E. Bailey, 273.
5.
Jump up^ Leal, John
L. (1897). “Isolation Hospitals.” Public Health Pap Rep. 1896'.' 22:
200–206. PMCID: PMC2329087
6.
Jump up^ Leal, John
L. (1900). “An Epidemic of Typhoid Fever Due to an Infected Public Water
Supply”, Public Health Pap Rep. 1899; 25: 166–171. PMCID:
PMC2329534
7.
Jump up^ Nelson,
William, and Charles A. Shriner. (1920). History of Paterson and Its
Environs Vol. 2, New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 45,
432.
9.
Jump up^ Mitchell,
H. (1903). Twenty-Seventh Annual Report of the Board of Health of the
State of New Jersey, October 31, 1903.
10.
Jump up^ Leal, John
L. (1898). “House Sanitation with Reference to Drainage, Plumbing, and
Ventilation”, in American Public Health Association, Public Health
Papers and Reports Vol. 23, Columbus, OH: APHA, 401-8.
12.
^ Jump up to:a b c d e f McGuire,
Michael J. (2013). The Chlorine Revolution: Water Disinfection and the
Fight to Save Lives, Denver, CO: American Water Works Association.
13.
^ Jump up to:a b 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.
14.
Jump up^ Leal, John
L. (1909). “The Sterilization Plant of the Jersey City Water Supply Company at
Boonton, N.J.” Proceedings American Water Works Association, 100-9.
15.
Jump up^ Fuller,
George W. (1909). “Description of the Process and Plant of the Jersey City
Water Supply Company for the Sterilization of the Water of the Boonton
Reservoir”,Proceedings American Water Works Association 110-34.
16.
Jump up^ Magie,
William J. (1910). In Chancery of New Jersey: Between the Mayor and Aldermen of
Jersey City, Complainant, and the Jersey City Water Supply Co., Defendant.
Report for Hon. W.J. Magie, special master on cost of sewers, etc., and on
efficiency of sterilization plant at Boonton, Press Chronicle Co., Jersey City,
New Jersey, (Case Number 27/475-Z-45-314), 1-15.
17.
Jump up^ Longley,
Francis F. (1915). “Present Status of Disinfection of Water Supplies”, Journal
American Water Works Association',' 2: 679-92.
19.
Jump up^ Jedckie,
Peter. (2007). Scientific American: Great Inventions of the 20th
Century. New York: Infobase Publishing.
21.
Jump up^ Baker,
Moses N. (1981). The Quest for Pure Water: the History of Water
Purification from the Earliest Records to the Twentieth Century, 2nd
Edition. Vol. 1. Denver: American Water Works Association, 336.
22.
Jump up^ Cowen,
Richard. "North Jersey ‘revolutionary’ put chlorine in drinking
water." NorthJersey.com, May 5, 2013.[1]
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