Reviews
For me, Tomory’s book is relevant to the current water debate: is water a human right that is foundational to other human rights including access to food and sanitation, for example, or is water a commodity like chocolate or coal that should be fully monetized? Examining London’s water industry provides insights into how for-profit water companies worked (and might still work in some cases) and certain inherent problems associated with limiting public access to water, including disease, that led to government takeovers and buyouts of water suppliers in many parts of the world, including London, in the nineteenth century.
The History of the London Water Industry is a well-written book that will reward anyone interested in the development of urban infrastructure, London’s growth as a world city, or the broader innovations surrounding Britain’s industrial revolution.
A well-researched technological, urban, and social history that takes a holistic approach to the London water industry.
Book Details
Introduction
Technological and industrial change
1.1 London
1.2 Late Medieval and Early Modern Urban Water Supply
1.3 New Water Technology
1.4 A Thirsty City
1.5 Patents
1.6 Peter Morris and the London
Introduction
Technological and industrial change
1.1 London
1.2 Late Medieval and Early Modern Urban Water Supply
1.3 New Water Technology
1.4 A Thirsty City
1.5 Patents
1.6 Peter Morris and the London Bridge Waterworks
1.7 Other Water Entrepreneurs
Conclusion
2.1 Corporations and Joint-Stock Companies
2.2 Myddelton’s Politics and the New River Company
2.3 Supplying London
Conclusion
3.1 Slow Growth and Stabilization, 1625–1660
3.2 Growth of the New River, 1660–1700
3.3 Improving and joint-stock companies, 1660–1700
3.4 New Attempts, 1700–1730
Conclusion
4.1 The Scale of the New River
4.2 Wren’s and Lowthorp’s Reports
4.3 Reform of Operations
4.3.1 Maintaining Adequate Supply
4.3.2 The Pipe Network
4.3.3 Controlling Customers
4.3.4 Manufacturing Pipes
4.3.5 Maintenance
4.3.6 Legal Dimension
Conclusion
5.1 The Nature of Competition: Dominance of the New River and the LBWW
5.2 The New LBWW to 1750
5.2.1 The Engines
5.2.2 The Water Tower and the Mains
5.2.3 The Employees and Operations
5.3 The LBWW After 1750
Conclusion
6.1 Supplying Houses
6.2 Brewers and Other Large Users
6.3 Geography of Consumption
6.4 Municipal Uses: Fire and Cleaning
Conclusion
7.1 The New River Company’s Efforts to Maintain Water Quality
7.2 Bathing in the New River
Conclusion
8.1 Transformations in London to 1820
8.2 Legacy of the London Water Network
Conclusion