Dear Bharat,
I can't say offhand what was the first municipal water project in
England, but I dare say that it probably precedes the 19th century.
Among the principal reasons for long distance supply were the need
to obtain water unpolluted by the industrial and domestic effluent
that the towns and cities produced (one might also consider
agricultural pollution); the need for very high volumes of water to
meet industrial, domestic and fire-fighting demands; and the
relative advantage of gravity powered supply over the cost of
powering pumping stations. One would also probably want to consider
the way that such issues and decisions were socially constructed,
attending to the values placed on health, cleanliness, science and technology,
professionalism,etc., and to the political and economic structures of these cities.
Very interesting and accessible accounts of the development of
Manchester and Glasgow's long distance municipal water supply
projects is given in Goodman, David and Chant, Colin (eds.) (1999)
EUROPEAN CITIES AND TECHNOLOGY: INDUSTRIAL TO POST-INDUSTRIAL CITY
London, Routledge. Details of some American schemes are given in
Roberts, Gerrylynn and Steadman, Philip (eds.) (1999) AMERICAN
CITIES AND TECHNOLOGY: WILDERNESS TO WIRED CITY London, Routledge.
The bibliographies of these books would also give you further leads.
What counts as the first municipal drinking water project in the
world will depend on your definition of 'municipal', particularly as
city governments long preceded the rise of the modern nation state
and its government. Whatever your definition it must surely be
before the establishment of the United States. Many ancient cities
had water supplies and sewerage systems more comprehensive and
effective than anything achieved in medieval and modern Europe prior
to the 19th century, and some of these used long distance supplies.
"Sennacherib (c704-681), ruler of Assyria in the north of Mesoptamia,
built an aqueduct over a distance of eighty kilometres to increase the
supply of water to his capital, Nineveh" (Chant, Colin & Goodman,
David (eds.) (1999) PRE-INDUSTRIAL CITIES AND TECHNOLOGY London,
Routledge, p29). This shows that the technology was available and
used from a very early time, and if this example doesn't fit your
definition of 'municipal', then perhaps the classical Greek city
states, many of which had amazingly elaborate long distance water
supplies, or Rome, would.
I don't have the references immediately to hand but, if I recall
correctly, there were cities in the Indus valley prior to 1,500 BC
that had elaborate water supply systems. Whether these drew their
water supply from a long distance, I don't remember, though certainly
later cities did. For instance 17th/18th century Shahjahanabad
(Delhi) was supplied by a canal 120km long. Again, your definition
of 'municipal' will determine the answer (though i don't know if
enough of the administration of the earlier Indus valley schemes is
known to enable you decide, whatever your definition).
Good luck with your researches. If you get stuck, e-mail me
off-list. I may be able to dig out some of my other references.
Regards,
John Clements
Department of Town and Regional Planning
University of Sheffield
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