How did a covert chemical treatment permanently change our drinking water? In 1908, two men, John L. Leal and George Warren Fuller, spent 99 days secretly constructing something that would fundamentally alter the Jersey City water supply. Their decision to add chlorine is one that continues to impact our lives for the better, but there was no large-scale testing or approval process. This episode, brought to us by producer Caitlin Faulds, explores the big questions about Leal and Fuller's great experiment. Do the ends justify the means? What if it hadn't worked? And how did people react when they found out?
Host: Alexis Pedrick
Reporter: Caitlin Faulds
Executive Producer: Mariel Carr
Senior Producer: Rigoberto Hernandez
Sound Design: Seth Samuel
Fact-Checking: Alexandra Atiya