Abel Wolman
Abel Wolman (born June 10, 1892 in Baltimore , † February 22, 1989 ibid) was an American engineer who put the chlorination of drinking water on a scientific basis in the USA and implemented it nationwide.
Wolman came from a humble background and was the son of Polish immigrants in Baltimore. He studied engineering at Johns Hopkins University (BA 1913, BS as an engineer 1915) and was an engineer in the Maryland State Department of Health, from 1922 to 1939 as chief engineer.
In 1919 he and his chemist colleague Linn Enslow developed the scientific basis for the widespread use of wastewater disinfection with chlorine. The suitability of chlorine for this had long been known (used by John Snow in 1854 in the London cholera epidemic and an American patent for it was granted in 1888), but there was no precise process specification for a safe use in drinking water treatment. Wolman spent decades convincing the American public, but by the early 1940s it was used in 85% of America's drinking water supplies.
He taught for a long time at Johns Hopkins University, where he founded the medical engineering department in 1937. In 1962 he retired.
In 1963 Wolman was elected to the National Academy of Sciences . In 1976 he received the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement , 1974 the National Medal of Science , 1986 the Robert E. Horton Medal and 1960 the Albert Lasker Public Service Award .
His son was the geomorphologist M. Gordon Wolman .
Web links
- Abel Wolman at Science Heroes
- The Wolmans: Luminaries of the JHU Global Water Program, Johns Hopkins University 2010
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Wolman, Abel |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American engineer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 10, 1892 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Baltimore |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 22, 1989 |
| Place of death | Baltimore |