Documentary History of American Water-works

Chronology of American Waterworks from 1649 to 1865 | 1866 to 1880 |

Chronological List of Publicly-Owned Water Works

Waterworks technology, ownership, and financing changed considerably over time and the chronology of their construction is a very valuable historical resource. 

This table shows a list of waterworks and the year they were first operated.  Where the year of first operation is not known or the system did not end up operating, the year of initial construction is shown.  The System Number column shows the total number of water works constructed by that time.  Where no System Number is shown a water system was proposed but apparently not built.  An "*" under system number signifies a significant early system that only served a single family.  The entry under Public Year indicates when the system became permanently owned by a public entity. If Private is shown the system is currently owned by a non-public entity.  Entries in the rest of the columns show the year in which the indicated technology was first used.