Lawrence's Historic Water Filtration Model Displayed

Lawrence, Massachusetts, is again putting one of its foundational public-health artifacts in view. A newly displayed scale model at the Senator William X. Wall Experiment Station recalls the city’s 1893 adoption of filtered drinking water, a step that followed deadly typhoid outbreaks tied to the Merrimack River. The model points back to work done in Lawrence that state and engineering groups say helped establish practical methods for drinking-water purification in the United States. The station, now operated by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, remains an active laboratory at 37 Shattuck Street. ### What exactly is the object now on display? The artifact is a scale model of Lawrence’s 1893 water filtration system, according to an Eagle-Tribune report published Sunday. The newspaper described it as a bright-green relic that had spent years largely out of public view before being displayed at the Wall Experiment Station. The Senator William X. Wall Experiment Station is the former Lawrence Experiment Station, a state research site founded in 1887 by the Massachusetts State Board of Health. MassDEP says the station was created to develop practical methods for treating sewage, industrial wastes and public drinking water supplies. ### Why does 1893 matter in Lawrence? In 1893, Lawrence began filtering Merrimack River water with slow-sand filters after typhoid epidemics underscored the danger of contaminated drinking water, according to historical accounts cited by engineering and local history groups. (eagletribune.com) The American Society of Civil Engineers says the station developed a successful system of slow-sand filter beds for drinking water in the United States. (mass.gov) The Lawrence History Center says the health effect was immediate. In an exhibit summary on the city’s public-health history, the center says Lawrence’s overall mortality rate dropped by 21% in the first year after the filtration system began. ### What made the Lawrence station unusual for its time? The Lawrence Experiment Station was founded in 1887, years before many cities built modern treatment systems. (asce.org) MassDEP says the investigations conducted there laid the foundation for modern wastewater treatment and drinking-water purification, and describes the site as one of the first laboratories in the world dedicated to environmental research. (lawrencehistory.org) ASCE, which designated the station a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 1975, says Lawrence researchers also demonstrated that microorganisms in filter media could degrade sewage. The engineering society says practical principles developed at the station led to dramatic reductions in water-borne diseases such as typhoid. (mass.gov) ### How does that history connect to Massachusetts today? MassDEP says the current Wall Experiment Station houses the Division of Environmental Laboratory Sciences, the state environmental reference laboratory for Massachusetts, along with the Air Assessment Branch. The agency says more than 40 scientists, engineers and support personnel work in the 22,000-square-foot facility along the Merrimack River. (asce.org) That means the site now displaying the 1893 model is also a working state laboratory. The continuity is physical as well as institutional: the same Lawrence campus associated with early filtration research now supports Massachusetts testing and environmental monitoring. That connection is an inference drawn from MassDEP’s description of the station’s current and historical roles. (mass.gov) ### Why is the station named for William X. Wall? In 1993, the facility was renamed for state senator William X. Wall. ASCE says Wall served for nearly 40 years in the Massachusetts Senate and House of Representatives, and MassDEP’s historical materials identify the station as the successor to the original Lawrence Experiment Station. (mass.gov) The current building itself dates to the 1950s. MassDEP says the 22,000-square-foot Wall Experiment Station facility was built in 1952 at 37 Shattuck Street in Lawrence. ### Where can people see the display now? The display is at the Senator William X. Wall Experiment Station, 37 Shattuck Street in Lawrence, where MassDEP says offices are open Monday through Friday. The site remains the state’s environmental reference laboratory, giving the 1893 model a place inside the same institution that Massachusetts says still supports water and environmental testing today. (asce.org) (mass.gov)