The George Warren Fuller Award is presented annually to one member
of each section of the American Water Works Association (AWWA). It is based on
recommendations from the sections for distinguished service in the water supply
field and "in commemoration of the sound engineering skill, the brilliant
diplomatic talent and constructive leadership talent" that characterized
Fuller's life. Fuller also was Chairman of the Editorial Advisory Board of
Municipal Sanitation since the magazine's inception in 1931 until his death in
1934.
Fuller was born in Franklin, Mass. in 1868. His paternal
ancestors had settled in America in 1642, establishing a home in Dedham, Mass.
Fuller graduated from high school at the head of his class, with the highest
marks given at that time. He graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology (MIT) in 1890. He then studied for about a year at the University of
Berlin in the private office of C. Piefke, the engineer of the Berlin Water
Works.
Instrumental in Sanitary Engineering
After returning to Massachusetts, he worked for the State
Board of Health for nearly five years, where he was in charge of the Lawrence
Experiment Station. There, he extended the experimental work and studies of
Allen Hazen to develop methods for treating the growing volumes of wastewater.
The Station at the time was recognized as the leader in research on the
purification of water supplies and treatment of sewage in this country.
Fuller's achievements at Lawrence led him to being selected
to take over the important filtration experiments for the Louisville Water Company
in 1895. He studied the suitability of various processes of filtration that
might prove adaptable in purifying the turbid waters such as the Ohio River.
The report of these studies became a classic and opened up a new era of water
purification practice. His work demonstrated the ability of coagulation and
rapid sand filtration to handle muddy and highly variable waters. It was the
basis of American water purification practice. In particular, the studies
revealed the major importance of effective coagulation and sedimentation prior
to filtration.
At Louisville, he supervised a group of men who later made
significant findings in the field of sanitation. (See photo at right.) These
men included Robert Spurr Weston, Joseph W. Ellms, George A. Johnson and George
A. Soper. Johnson, who was responsible for the first American installations for
the chlorination of water (see the April 150th article on chlorination) was at
the time an associate of Fuller, who was the consultant on the projects.
Following his research in Louisville, Fuller carried on
similar filtration experiments in Cincinnati. His work proved the economy of
rapid sand filtration over the then-used English slow sand methods.
In 1899, Fuller established a consulting engineering firm in
New York. During his 34 years of practice, Fuller advised more than 150 cities,
commissions and corporations on major water supply and sewerage improvements.
He worked with, among others, Washington D.C.; New Orleans;
St. Louis; Indianapolis; Kansas City; Chicago; New Haven, Conn.; Minneapolis
and St. Paul, Minn.; the New Jersey Water Policy Commission; and the Hackensack
Valley Sewerage Commission. For many of these facilities, his service included
full control over all engineering work involved in the preparation of plans and
contracts, as well as the construction. The earliest Imhoff tank sewage
treatment plants in America (those in Chatham, N.J., and Atlanta, Ga.) were
designed by Fuller and one of his partners, Rudolph Hering.
During World War I, Fuller was a member of a Central
Committee in Washington having to do with the planning, engineering and
sanitation of the various army corps. He also was the consulting engineer to
the United States Public Health Services and the Construction Division of the
U.S. Army.
In 1924 he was chairman of a board of 28 experts advising
the Sanitary District of Chicago with the problems involved in disposing its
sewage. This work eventually led to the reversing of the Chicago River. (This
topic will be covered in next month's 150th Anniversary article.)
Standardization
Fuller took a keen interest in activities aimed towards the
standardization of practices. At an 1894 meeting of the American Public Health
Association, Fuller suggested a cooperative effort toward the standardization
of bacteriological testing so that results from different laboratories could be
compared. The result came in an 1897 report that evolved into the Standard
Methods text used today.
As chairman of the Council on Standardization of the AWWA,
he was responsible for the successful publication of the Manual of Water Works
Practice in 1925. He also was a dominant influence in the AWWA during the time
its constitution and bylaws were being revised. He also served as AWWA
president.
In addition, Fuller gave freely of his time to other
organizations. He was a member of the American Public Health Association
(president), the Engineering Foundation (chair), the American Society of Civil
Engineers (vice president), American Society of Mechanical Engineers, American
Chemical Society and the Federation of Sewage Works Associations, among others.
In July 1934, Municipal Sanitation Editor Abel Wolman wrote
upon Fuller's death, "Municipal Sanitation records this last tribute to
one of the important figures who have made this country safe to live in. His
name will be among the first in public health achievements of this
century."
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