Why Did They Become Pipe-Bound Cities?: Early Water and Sewerage Alternatives in Swedish Cities

In: Public works management & policy: a journal for the American Public Works Association, Band 6, Heft 3, S. 172-185

Abstract

For decades and even centuries, Swedish towns, prompted by the need for clean water, haddiscussedpotential water systems. Some towns haddevelopedplans, but it was first in the secondhalf of the 19th century that the gradual conversion was made to pipe-boundsystems for water andsanitation. Not until 1863, after towns hadgainedthe authority to collect taxes, borrow money, lay pipes through private compounds, and monitor the urban environment, did infrastructure development become the task of local government. Cholera epidemics and fire protection (and thus lower insurance fees) were among the factors motivating the town councils andproperty owners. Especially from 1875 on, the hygienic value of water was also emphasizedin the effort to enforce public health legislation. Pipes for the systems were importedanddesigns emulated.