ST. LOUIS – St. Louis is known throughout the Midwest for its clean, fresh water. But don’t get it steamed up, the water was once on the dark side.
Yes, the clean water in St. Louis once had a phase when it had a dark, muddy appearance. This was the result of the City of St. Louis’ struggling to remove the sediment in the river water that could be utilized for everyday use. Although this water sounds disgusting to drink, in the past, residents actually liked it.
In fact, Mark Twain mentioned in his 1883 book, “Life on the Mississippi,” that residents didn’t mind the muddy water. Twain said residents would “find an inch of mud in the bottom of a glass, they stir it up, and then take the draught as they would gruel.”
Although many residents didn’t mind the dirty liquid, the city needed to clean it before the 1904 World’s Fair. A variety of methods were tried to change the color of the water, but nothing worked. It wasn’t until the St. Louis Water Department brought in a man who would find a solution that the city desperately needed.
John F. Wixford was a St. Louis native and chemist who graduated from Washington University in 1887. He had originally worked for the city’s water department from 1892 to 1899 and returned to the department in 1903 to help find a solution to the problem.
Just weeks before the 1904 World’s Fair was set to commence, Wixford came up with a system he dubbed the “Wixford Process,” a system that would change everything for the city.
According to William B. Schworm from the St. Louis Water Works, Wixford’s process mainly involved dumping an unprecedented amount of slaked lime into the river at a temperature of 190 degrees, which was able to separate the sediment from the water. This cleared the water and a rapid filtration system plus chlorination did the rest. The remarkable system was then used to help cities with clean, safe tap water around the United States, and the world.
Today, Wixford is not well known around St. Louis, as he never received proper credit for his work. Schworm explained that Edward. E. Wall, the Assistant Water Commissioner from 1911 to 1925, discredited Wixford at every opportunity and even received a prize for the process Wixford created. Although Wixford never received the proper credit for his monumental achievement, the city of St. Louis continues to honor his gift, as thousands of residents do today.
