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In his column, AWWA Executive Director Gary Zimmerman celebrates the 100th anniversary of the first large‐scale use of chlorination as a disinfection technology at the Boonton Reservoir of the Jersey City Water Works in 1908. He mentions other topics presented in this month's Journal, including disinfection practices, the results of AWWA's Disinfection Systems Committee survey, and the 2008 State of the Industry Report.

Disinfection holds an unmatched distinction among water treatment technologies: it has saved countless lives over the past 100 years since chlorine was first applied to water drawn from the Boonton Reservoir in Jersey City, N.J. This momentous application of “chloride of lime” transformed water treatment across the globe. Chlorine has remained the disinfectant of choice, as reported by 68% of the utilities that responded to AWWA's Disinfection Systems Committee survey of disinfection practices. A number of utilities reported having switched to other disinfectants: chloramine ‐ 30%, ozone ‐ 9%, chlorine dioxide ‐ 8%, ultraviolet light ‐ 2%. Part 1 of the committee's two‐part report covers recent changes, current practices, and water quality. Part 2 will be published in the November issue.

We describe the morphology of Semionotus, focusing on the Semionotus elegans group from the Newark Supergroup of eastern North America. Our description is based largely on specimens from the Boonton Formation (Early Jurassic) of New Jersey because they are particularly well-preserved and include good material of both the dermal skeleton and the endoskeleton. A single anamestic suborbital distinguishes Semionotus from its sister-genus Lepidotes. We restrict the Semionotidae, defined by the presence of dorsal ridge scales between the nape and dorsal fin as well as a large posteriorly directed process on the epiotic, to two genera, Semionotus and Lepidotes. We restrict the Semionotiformes, defined by four characters and five character losses, to the Lepisosteidae, Macrosemiidae, and Semionotidae. Our study of Semionotus and previous work on Watsonulus suggest new interpretations of characters and character polarities. These data support the hypothesis that the Semionotiformes as we define them are more closely related to teleosts than either is to Amia. Analysis of the same data using PAUP suggests an equally parsimonious hypothesis that the Semionotiformes and Amia form a monophyletic group that, in turn, forms the sister-group to teleosts.

Boonton's origins date back to 1747 with the forgotten village of Old Boonton, the remains of which now lie under the Jersey City Reservoir.Distinguished for its iron forges and mills, Old Boonton owed its existence primarily to the waterpower provided by the Rockaway River.