Royal Exchange

• Our ongoing archival research, part of a project on London’s water history and politics, explores the movement that inspired the construction of public drinking fountains at a remarkable rate in the late 19th century.
• Echoing criticism of water companies today, the private firms that supplied London’s drinking water in the 19th century prioritised profits over investment in infrastructure.
• From the 1850s, pioneering medical research linked cholera epidemics to polluted water and demonstrated the public health risks of London’s water network.
• The expansion of drinking water fountains was one response to these mounting concerns about London’s unequal and, as the cholera research showed, sometimes dangerous water supply.

Quenching London’s thirst

• Samuel Gurney, a banker and politician, was the driving force behind the association and channelled significant sums of his own money into it.
• He was joined by a motley crew of politicians, doctors, lawyers and engineers, who helped run and promote the association in the late 19th century.
• Funding for individual fountains came from various sources, including wealthy benefactors, local governments and multiple contributions from local residents.
• If pubs were a corrupting force, drinking fountains were a way of purifying the souls of the working class.

Public water, private interests

• The association lost much of its radical zeal, became more conservative in orientation, and struggled financially as donations dried up.
• It was not until private water companies were brought under public control in the early 20th century that London’s water crisis began to ease, indicating the need for decisive public interventions alongside more piecemeal social initiatives.
• Once again, we see how providing public water can also serve private interests.