Joseph E. Harrison, P.E., CWS - VI, is technical director of the Water Quality Association, Lisle, IL. He may be reached at 630-505-0160. Prior to joining the WQA in 1990, Harrison was chief of the Safe Drinking Water Branch for Region V of the EPA for 17 years.
Anyone who has sat through a high school science class may remember the term “osmosis.” This process was first described by a French scientist in 1748, who noted that water spontaneously diffused through a pig bladder membrane into alcohol.