Robert B. Morse Water Filtration Plant, 10700 and 10701 Columbia Pike, Silver Spring, Montgomery County, MD

Significance: Constructed by the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission and opened in 1936, the Robert B. Morse Water Filtration Plant is significant for its unique filter assembly designed by Chief Engineer Robert B. Morse. Rather than locating the steps of the filtration process (sedimentation, flocculation, filtration and storage) in separate structures, Morse designed a filter assembly that incorporated nearly all the steps into one circular structure. Although the filter assemblies were removed after the plant was taken offline in 1962, elements of the filtration process remain. The site is also significant in the history of the development of municipal water systems, both in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan region and in the United States.

Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: N1137

Survey number: HAER MD-166

Building/structure dates: 1936 Initial Construction

Building/structure dates: after 1962 Demolished

water pumps waterworks pumping stations dams filtration filtration plants water supply silver spring md robert robert b morse morse water filtration plant columbia columbia pike silver montgomery county maryland elwood h aldrich anna aranovich renee bieretz bureau of sanitary engineering chicago bridge and iron works company justine christianson will dickinson john gibb historic american engineering record james p kirkwood elizabeth jo lampl jet lowe christopher marston maryland state department of health maryland national capital park and planning commission robert b morse julie mueller prince george and montgomery counties sewerage commission reconstruction finance corporation laila sharafi washington suburban sanitary commission alden watts charles o wherley photo assembly plants manufacturing plants building plans design architectural drawings library of congress architectural diagrams

1969 - 1980

Library of Congress

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