Carl Rogers Darnall Brigadier General Carl Rogers Darnall ( December 25 , 1867 , Weston , Texas , USA - January 18 , 1941 , Washington , D . C . , USA ) was a United States Army chemist and surgeon credited with originating the technique of liquid chlorination of drinking water . Chlorination has been an exceedingly important innovation in public health , saving innumerable lives . Biography . Youth and education . Darnall was born on his father ’ s farm in the Cottage Hill community near McKinney , in Collin County , Texas . He was the eldest of the seven children of Reverend Joseph Rogers Darnall , minister of the Christian Church , and Mary Ellen ( Thomas ) Darnall . He studied at Carlton College , Bonham , Texas , and Transylvania University , Lexington , Kentucky and received a MD degree from Jefferson Medical College , Philadelphia ( 1890 ) . In 1892 he married Annie Estella Major of Erwinna , Pennsylvania . In 1896 , after a few years of private practice , he was commissioned a first lieutenant and assistant surgeon in the U . S . Army . He graduated from the Army Medical School in Washington the following year . Early career . Darnall ’ s first assignments were to stations in Texas – Fort Clark at Brackettville , and Fort McIntosh at Laredo . During the Spanish - American War ( 1898 ) , Darnall served in Cuba . Later , he served as an operating surgeon and pathologist aboard the hospital ship USS " Relief " in the Philippines and commanded the hospital at Iloilo . He was one of the few medical officers that accompanied the Allied Forces during the Boxer Rebellion in China . Chlorination . In 1902 , Darnall returned to Washington , D . C . , and served as secretary of the faculty and instructor for sanitary chemistry and operative surgery at the Army Medical School . It was while a major and a professor of chemistry there that he demonstrated the value of anhydrous , liquefied chlorine in purifying water . His 1910 invention , the mechanical liquid chlorine purifier ( known as a " chlorinator " ) , was the prototype of the technology that is now applied to municipal water supplies throughout the world . Darnall also devised and patented a water filter that was used by the Army for many years . Major William Lyster further adapted the process of water chlorination to field use by inventing a method to apply sodium hypochlorite in a cloth bag , known as a Lyster bag . Later career . Darnall was promoted to Colonel in 1917 . During World War I , Darnall ’ s talents for business and organization were recognized and he was assigned to the Finance and Supply Division in the Office of The Surgeon General ( OTSG ) . After the war , he served as department surgeon in Hawaii . In 1925 , he returned to the OTSG as executive officer . In November ( or December 5 ? ) , 1929 , he was promoted to brigadier general and became the Commanding General of the Army Medical Center , a post he held until he retired on December 31 , 1931 . Darnall died on 18 January 1941 at Walter Reed General Hospital , Washington , D . C . . Six days earlier , his wife had died at the family home in Washington . They left three sons , Joseph Rogers ( 1894 – 1976 ) , William Major ( b . 1895 ) , and Carl Robert ( b . 1904 ) , all of whom served in some capacity in the Army . He is buried in the Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington , Virginia . Awards and honors . Darnall was a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons , a member of the American Medical Association and Association of Military Surgeons of the United States . He was a veteran of the Military Order of the Carabao , member of the Army and Navy Club of Washington , and Founder Member of the Army and Navy Country Club . Darnall received the Distinguished Service Medal for his organizing , developing and administering medical supplies during World War I .