George E. Waring Jr. 1833-1898

George E. Waring Jr. was born in Pound Ridge, New York in 1833. He was a sanitary engineer and civic reformer who designed and advocated sewer systems that kept domestic sewage separate from storm runoff, an idea that had not been used on a large scale in the United States prior to his work.

 

Waring was sent to the city of Memphis after they had suffered several cholera and yellow fever epidemics with 5,000 deaths from the 1878 yellow fever epidemic alone. Memphis constructed a separated sewer system according to Waring's plans, and its era of epidemics came to an end.

 

In 1893, Waring was appointed agricultural and drainage engineer for the construction of New York's Central Park. This effort was considered to be the largest drainage project of its time. Prior to this time, much of the area of the proposed park was a wetland. He designed and supervised construction of the drainage system that created the scenic lakes and ponds of the park.

 

The firm of Waring, Chapman & Farquhar supervised the installation of Albemarle Park’s sewer and storm water systems according to the designs of Waring.

 

 

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