Implementation without control: the role of the private water companies in establishing constant water in nineteenth-century London

The switch from intermittent to constant water supply in London in the late nineteenth century has attracted little attention. This article argues that this transition, the basis of the modern water system, was a considerable undertaking. System-builders (London's private water companies) faced a permissive regulatory environment and a population that could be ambivalent about constant water. While the water companies tried to encourage standardization through contract agreements and inspection, their lack of domestic access encouraged technical fragmentation. Local socio-political relations influenced the form of the constant water system, with consequences for future consumption practices.