Water and the search for public health in London in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries

Abstract

THE history of water supplies in England is a poorly documented subject. Although various accounts of the history of water technology, and learned articles on the political and administrative aspects of water supply have been written, the history of water in relation to public health remains largely unexplored. As this is, especially concerning the nineteenth century, a voluminous subject, the present paper attempts no more than a broad survey of the process by which water came to be recognized as a vital element in public health, of the gradual discovery and application of criteria for water purity, and of the means by which supplies satisfactory in quantity and quality were obtained. The roots of the modern concern with environment and its effect on health lie in the eighteenth century, and in this period the first indications of interest in the quality and physical effects of water are found. Health and cleanliness were treated as personal matters in the eighteenth and earlier nineteenth centuries: in the first parliamentary inquiry into water quality in 1828 there is little evidence of any wider concern with the health of the general population. It was only in the later 1 830s and 1840s that the idea of public health in its widest, or modern, sense began to gain currency, and only in the second half of the nineteenth century that the term came to have, for certain social elements, a further dimension of public morality as well. It is against this background of movement from an individual to a social concern that the development of modern standards of water services must be viewed. The evolution of the public health idea during this period is reflected in the nature and quantity of primary sources. These are sparse for the eighteenth century, but plentiful by the second half of the nineteenth. The sources for the latter period are also more familiar, and therefore have been treated more cavalierly in this paper: the intention has been more to illuminate less familiar aspects of the water question than to present a definitive history. The geographical scope of this account has been limited to London, partly for convenience, but also because the experience of the capital was crucial in influencing the development of medical and legislative concern with water.

Modern water: A biocultural approach to water pollution at the Akwesasne Mohawk Nation

“…However, rivers were often used for waste disposal as well. Waste from humans, domestic animals, butchers, certain manufacturers, especially leather and textiles, contaminated local sources (Hardy ; Salzman, ; Tarr, , ). The common solution to waste disposal in cities combined with the human need for water posed a biological challenge to the urban population.…”

“…This problem became acute in European and American cities during the 18th and 19th centuries when populations grew tremendously from rural migration, the volume of waste grew and removal of waste out of the city did not keep pace (Blake, ; Rosen, ; Tarr, ). In many cities, the water supply shifted from local rivers and shallow wells to more elaborate distribution systems as could be seen in London and Paris in the late 18th and 19th centuries (Barles and Guillerme, ; Blake, ; Hardy ; Salzman ). In addition, as populations embraced the flush toilet for domestic waste removal, the flow of water into cisterns and systems for distribution grew enormously.…”

“…In addition, as populations embraced the flush toilet for domestic waste removal, the flow of water into cisterns and systems for distribution grew enormously. The enlarged water supply and production of contaminated water overwhelmed the more primitive waste removal infrastructure adding to water contamination (Flynn ; Hardy ). Diseases spread through contaminated water; epidemics of dysentery, cholera, and typhoid were regular occurrences (Hardy ; Rosen ; Wohl ).…”

The Rise of Constant Water in Nineteenth-Century London

“…In increasing numbers, Londoners turned away from local wells and watercourses and towards piped supplies, a trend linked with worsening pollution of the local sources and the improvement of delivered water in terms of purity and reliability. 1 Despite a general aspiration for more piped water, however, there was uncertainty surrounding the questions of what form water infrastructure should take, how this system should be organized, and who should make this decision: water company engineers or central government. 2 In the context of a privately owned water infrastructure, what right did legislators have to prescribe the system that should be installed in private houses by the eight large London water companies?…”

Purifying the River: Pollution and Purity of Water in Colonial Calcutta

“…Pumping of Thames water for the city of London and its conveyance through pipes to private homes had started in the sixteenth century. 18 Calcutta, a 'city in the swamp' 19 , was crisscrossed by several creeks of the river, including an old channel called Adi Ganga (the Old/Original Ganges) which ran though the city, many of which either dried up, or became sewage canals or joined the underground springs. Names of places such as Ooltodinga (later called Ultodanga, meaning capsized skiff) remind us of the earlier boating practices through these creeks.…”