Picture Lake LaVerne. Now picture yourself dipping a glass into the murk, scooping out the soupy, discolored liquid and letting it slide down your throat.ÿ

Cringing yet?

Thirty years ago, ISU students unknowingly drank and bathed in water even more frightening than the waters of “Lake Latrine.”

To find the cause, just look up at the tallest structure on campus: the Marston Water Tower.

According to the College of Engineering Web site, Anson Marston, for whom Marston Hall is named, took on the project of building the water tower in 1895, finishing construction in 1897.

The water tower was the first of its kind to be erected west of the Mississippi River.

According to the History of Campus Buildings at the ISU Web site, “the use of the water tower was discontinued in 1978 when the university switched to a city water system.”

This is true, but there’s a bit more to this story. For instance, why did they decide to “discontinue” the water tower’s use? Why was it necessary to switch to city water?

The man with answers to these questions is Robert Baumann, an 85-year-old Anson Marston distinguished professor of engineering, and professor of civil engineering from 1953 to 1991.

“I was the first person interviewed by James H. Hilton, on the first day he was president of Iowa State,” Baumann said.

As a professor, Baumann taught a lab for civil engineers in the Engineering Annex, a building that was demolished several years ago to make way for the construction of Hoover Hall.

In this lab, one of the things Baumann taught his students about was water quality.

“In the lab one day I suggested that the students get a sample of water from Lake LaVerne – which we called ‘Lake LaMud’ back in those days – and also from the tap in the Engineering Annex,” Baumann said.

Baumann explained that these samples would be tested for indicator organisms known as coliforms.

“If we sample water and we find coliform organisms, it means we have either human or animal fecal material, or the runoff from land that has manure on it,” Baumann said.

Baumann clarified that coliforms themselves are not typically dangerous, but their presence in a water sample indicates a higher risk of pathogenic bacteria such as E. coli or salmonella.

When Baumann’s students brought back their results, they were startled to find that the highest coliform counts were observed in the sample of campus tap water.

“There was 100 times less [coliform] in Lake LaVerne,” Baumann said.

“All of the students got the same thing.”

At first, Baumann concluded that the students must have taken a bad sample, so he had them run the test again. The results were identical.

Baumann immediately brought the issue to the dean of the College of Engineering – at the time, George Town – and then to ISU President James Hilton. It was concluded that something needed to be done – quickly.

Baumann first suggested that they add chlorine to the water to decontaminate it. However, the campus water supply also contained traces of iron, and when the chlorine contacted the iron, it turned the water red.

The red water seeped into student’s homes, causing a campuswide outcry.

“Within 48 hours after we started to chlorinate the water, all of the student wives over in Pammel Court got real upset,” Baumann said.

Baumann recalled that some women were so angry that they brought their rust-tinted laundry into President Hilton’s office and piled it on his desk.

After the chlorination attempt failed, Baumann and the health committee decided that they needed to locate the source of the coliform contamination.

After a thorough examination of the campus water system, the cause was found.

“The vents on the top of the water tower were normally screened to keep out birds and animals – but the screens were corroded and gone,” Baumann said.

The lack of screens on these vents allowed birds free entrance to the water tower, and to the 162,000-gallon birdbath inside.

Baumann remembered seeing “bushel baskets” of bird skeletons and bird feces that were found in the water tower, all the time in direct contact with the water supply.

Shortly after, it was decided that the university would switch to the city water system.

It is unknown whether any students got ill as a result of contact with the bird-ridden water, but thanks to Baumann’s civil engineering class, it is something that Iowa State no longer has to worry about.