| Introduction | Historical Background | Chronology | Geography | Biography | Technology | Ownership and Financing | General Bibliography |
Water works systems were developed throughout the United States and always adapted to local geography and politics. Moses Nelson Baker categorized American waterworks into eight geographic regions in his 1888 Manual of American Water-works, which he adopted from Poor's Manual of Railroads except he moved Kansas into the Northwestern area. Baker shows data for each of these areas in this and subsequent volumes, which will be included here. A table showing the states in each of the eight areas is shown below, along with a separate alphabetic table of states. Baker's "Middle" area has been renamed "Middle Atlantic" for this work. Systems in Canada have been excluded and Hawaii has been added to the Pacific region.
The following table shows the number of water works built in each region at the end of each half-decade. Numbers in parentheses indicate works proposed but apparently not built by the end of 1865.
| Region | 1795 | 1800 | 1805 | 1810 | 1815 | 1820 | 1825 | 1830 | 1835 | 1840 | 1845 | 1850 | 1855 | 1860 | 1865 | 1870 | 1875 | 1880 |
| New England | 11 | 36 (6) | 52 (9) | 57 (9) | 66 (9) | 73 (10) | 80 (13) | 87 (16) | 98 (16) | 108 (18) | 114 (19) | 120 (20) | 128 (23) | 133 (29) | 143 (33) | 160 | 190 | 219 |
| Middle Atlantic | 10 (2) | 18 (2) | 32 (3) | 43 (7) | 44 (11) | 59 (14) | 68 (17) | 82 (24) | 86 (29) | 88 (34) | 99 (33) | 109 (33) | 128 (42) | 150 (54) | 160 (60) | 188 | 242 | 287 |
| South Atlantic | 1 (1) | 1 (3) | 3 (4) | 6 (2) | 7 (3) | 9 (3) | 12 (4) | 15 (4) | 19 (5) | 21 (6) | 23 (5) | 24 (5) | 27 (4) | 27 (5) | 27 (5) | 27 | 32 | 36 |
| South Central | 0 | 0 (1) | 2 (1) | 4 (4) | 4 (4) | 5 (5) | 8 (3) | 9 (2) | 12 (2) | 13 (4) | 13 (4) | 13 (5) | 14 (6) | 15 (8) | 16 (7) | 18 | 23 | 28 |
| North Central | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 (0) | 3 (0) | 7 (0) | 7 (0) | 8 (2) | 10 (5) | 13 (6) | 14 (8) | 17 (11) | 19 (22) | 23 (26) | 24 (26) | 34 | 82 | 122 |
| Northwestern | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (6) | 3 (6) | 6 | 15 | 32 |
| Southwestern | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 (1) | 2 (2) | 2 | 9 | 22 |
| Pacific | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 (1) | 6 (1) | 8 | 17 | 31 (1) | 43 (8) | 60 | 75 | 97 |
| Total | 25 (3) | 59 (12) | 92 (17) | 116 (22) | 131 (27) | 160 (32) | 182 (37) | 208 (48) | 233 (57) | 251 (69) | 271 (70) | 293 (74) | 335 (97) | 381 (130) | 418 (147) | 495 | 668 | 844 |
This table shows the number of water works systems built in each half-decade.
| Region | 1800 | 1805 | 1810 | 1815 | 1820 | 1825 | 1830 | 1835 | 1840 | 1845 | 1850 | 1855 | 1860 | 1865 | 1870 | 1875 | 1880 |
| New England | 25 | 16 | 5 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 11 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 10 | 17 | 30 | 29 |
| Middle Atlantic | 8 | 14 | 11 | 1 | 15 | 9 | 14 | 4 | 2 | 11 | 10 | 19 | 22 | 10 | 28 | 54 | 45 |
| South Atlantic | 0 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 4 |
| South Central | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 5 |
| North Central | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 10 | 48 | 40 |
| Northwestern | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 18 |
| Southwestern | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
| Pacific | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 14 | 12 | 17 | 15 | 22 |
| Total | 34 | 34 | 23 | 15 | 29 | 22 | 26 | 25 | 18 | 20 |
22 |
42 | 44 | 37 | 77 | 173 | 176 |
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