LILLJA

FINLAND (see also List of Individuals)

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7.3.1879 Viborg/FI - 5.2.1946 Helsinki/FI

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John L.W. Lillja was born in the former Russian province Finland which became independent in 1918. His hometown was in the Karelia County that was annexed by the Soviets after World War II. Lillja graduated as a civil engineer from the Finish Polytechnic in 1902. He joined in 1908 the water supply group of Helsinki and there remained for the following years as its director. Following a steady contribution to the technique of water supply, Lillja submitted in 1934 a PhD thesis to his Alma Mater. He thus became the most prominent water supply engineer of his country and contributed significantly to the development of drinking water techniques.

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Lillja presented a number of papers in the journal Technical Association of Finland. His first work was devoted to the well formula as proposed by Jules Dupuit (1804-1866), thereby accounting for essentially horizontal streamlines. Lillja investigated economic pipe schemes in terms of material cost and hydraulic performance, a topic then being popular among hydraulic engineers. His 1916 paper presents the hydraulic scheme of the Helsinki city water supply system. In 1920, he investigated the hydraulics of weirs for accurate discharge measurement, whereas his 1925 book reviews the then current practice in water supply techniques. Lillja served from 1919 to 1938 as the Editor of the journal mentioned. It then counted among the best engineering journals of Europe.

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_{Anonymous (1939). Tekn. Dr. John L.W. Lillja 60 år. Tekniska Föreningens i Finland Förhandlingar 59(3): 77.}

_{Granqvist, R. (1946). Tekn. Dr. John L.W. Lillja. Tekniska Föreningens i Finland Förhandlingar 66(3): 58-59.}

_{Lillja, J.L.W. (1914). Bestämning af den ekonomiskt gynnsammaste diametern för tilloppsledningen mellan pumpverk och högreservoar vid en vattenverksanläggning med maskinell uppfordring. Tekniska Föreningens i Finland Förhandlingar 34(3): 49-61.}

_{Lillja, J.L.W. (1916). Nya hufvudledningar för Helsingfors stads vattenledning. Tekniska Föreningens i Finland Förhandlingar 36(10): 175-184.}

_{Lillja, J.L.W. (1920). Fritt överfall over cirkelbågsformig överfallskant. Tekniska Föreningens i Finland Förhandlingar 40(5): 77-86.}

_{Lillja, J.L.W. (1925). Teoretiska undersökningar an den hydrauliska sannverkan av tvenne högreservoar. Helsingfors.}

_{Tallqvist, H.J. (1930). Tekniska föreningen i Finland 1880-1930. Helsinki. P}