Tadaa! In this the 3rd of 4 instalments, we present to you the continuing saga of how cool, refreshing drinking water trickled its way through the past until it reached you in the very convenient water cooler machines of today.
1900
Manchester enlarged the Lake Thirlmere reservoir in the Lake District.
1906
Further abroad, the water fountain was first invented. It is credited to two men – Halsey Willard Taylor and Luther Haws. Haws patented the first drinking faucet in 1911.
1930s
By the 1930s the routine way to treat water was to:
- Screen it to catch branches, solids and dead animals (charming).
- Treat it with aluminium sulphate to remove solids (even less charming).
- Chlorinate it against bacterial infections (ay caramba!).
1945
The Water Act reorganised the water industry and encouraged more efficiency.
1963
The Water Resources Act created 29 River Authorities to look after the river systems and control the use of water.
1967
The Central Scotland Water Development Board was set up to supply more water for sale to Local Authorities.
1973
The Water Bill for England and Wales created 10 Regional Water Authorities.
1975
The nine new Scottish Regional Councils and the Islands Councils were set up to control public water supply, sewerage and sewage disposal.
1982
Kielder Reservoir was opened. It was one of the biggest lakes in Europe.
1961-84
The water needs of England and Wales rose from 110,000 million litres per day to 164,000 million litres per day.
1989
The Water Act of 1989 allowed Local Authorities in England and Wales to sell off the water companies.
1996
Three new Scottish water authorities were created – East, West and North of Scotland Water. They took over water and waste water services from the former Scottish Regional Councils.
Next stop, MODERN DAY – the 21st Century – exciting stuff in the water cooler world!
At AquAid, we offer a rather more modern version of the 1906 original – yay for us, yay for you – from bottle fed water coolers through to water coolers for schools.
