William Webster (chemical engineer)

William Webster (1855–1910) was an English chemical engineer credited with developments in gas detection, sewage treatment and medical use of x-rays.

A fellow of the Chemical Society, he patented a system to detect hydrogenous gases in mines in 1876,[1] and later developed a system for the electrolytic purification of sewage (patent application filed on 22 December 1887; US patent awarded on 19 February 1889),[2] trialled in 1888 at the Crossness Southern Outfall works[3][4] which had been built by his father's firm in the 1860s.

Webster was also a pioneer in x-ray research and a founder member of the Röntgen Society (since 1927 part of the British Institute of Radiology), assisting surgeon Thomas Moore in producing radiographs in 1896, after which Moore set up an x-ray unit at the Miller General Hospital in Greenwich High Road.

[5] Webster is also believed to be the first person to experience radiation 'sunburn', suffered on his right hand.

[6][5] He wrote a letter on the subject of x-ray photography published in the journal Nature in 1897.