Ancient Infrastructure and Public Health
The ancient city of Rome built one of the world’s earliest large-scale urban water systems. By the 1st century CE, the Roman Empire operated 11 aqueducts delivering hundreds of millions of gallons of water daily to fountains, baths, and households. The system worked because water flowed constantly through public fountains, preventing stagnation—an early recognition that moving water helped keep cities healthier, even before germ theory existed.
The Modern “Water Recycling” City
Today, Singapore has one of the most advanced urban water systems in the world. Through a program called NEWater, wastewater is purified using microfiltration, reverse osmosis, and ultraviolet treatment, then reused as drinking water. About 40% of the city-state’s water supply now comes from recycled water, dramatically reducing reliance on imported water.
Cholera and the Birth of Modern Water Policy
A cholera outbreak in Hamburg, Germany in 1892 killed over 8,000 people because the city pumped untreated river water into its system. Nearby Altona, which filtered its water from the same river, had far fewer deaths. The episode became a famous demonstration that clean water infrastructure could determine whether epidemics spread or stop.
In the mid-19th century, when Charles Dickens was writing Bleak House, much of London still received water only a few hours a day. Private water companies pumped river water through pipes at scheduled times, and households had to fill rooftop cisterns or barrels while the supply was running.
The problem was that these cisterns often sat open or poorly sealed, allowing dust, insects, and sometimes sewage contamination to enter. Water might then sit stagnant for days before being used. Even homes that technically had “piped water” could end up drinking water that had gone bad.
This practice—called “intermittent supply”—was common across the city and contributed to repeated outbreaks of diseases like Cholera. Reformers later pushed for “constant supply,” where pressurized pipes delivered water continuously, preventing contamination.
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