E. Kent Springer; Former USC Engineering Professor

E. Kent Springer, 83, former USC engineering professor who helped develop systems to prevent contamination of drinking water. For two decades, Springer headed USC’s Foundation for Cross-Connection Control and Hydraulic Research. His research helped to establish standards and tests to prevent water pollution within large, complex water systems. The foundation developed design specifications and performance criteria for mechanical devices in water distribution lines to prevent the back flow of polluted water from processing plants, laboratories and other sources. A native of Bellingham, Wash., Springer was educated at USC and the University of Wisconsin, where he began his teaching career. He joined the USC faculty in 1946 and retired in 1984. On Dec. 4 in Pasadena.