Documentary History of American Water-works

Ownership and Financing of American Water-Works

Hydrant Contracts

Many cities contracted with private water works companies to pay an annual charge for each fire hydrant. Baltimore, Maryland decided to install its own fire plugs in 1809, with water provided at no charge by the company. Buffalo, New York was paid $50 per hydrant per year in 1852, but in 1858 demanded an annual payment of $20,000. Hydrant contracts became widespread after the Civil War. This list includes some early systems for which relevant information has been found.

Year	City	State	Company	# of Hydrants	Proposed $/Hydrant/ Year	Contracted $/Hydrant/ Year	Term (years)	Comments
1805	Baltimore	MD	Baltimore Water Company		$10			City bought existing fire plugs and paid for installation of new ones. Company provided water at no charge.
1846	Madison	WI	T. S. Godman			$20
1852	Buffalo	NY	Buffalo Water Works Company			$50	5	In 1858 the Company demanded an annual payment of $20,000, plus interest on the cost of extending the system.
1861	Rochester	NY	Rochester Water Works Company	400	$50	$50	10	System was not built. Hydrants to be Ketchum's Improved Fire Hydrant, or some other one of equally approved character, and to be kept and maintained by said Water Works
1861	New Haven	CT	New Haven Water Company		$30		20	City provided and install its own hydrants, water for hydrants and city purposes provided for an annual payment, which increased over time.
1865	Auburn	NY	Auburn Water Works Company	150	$40	$75	Perpetual?
1867	Erie	PA	Akron Water Works Company	50	$180			City decided to build its own system.
1871	Glens Falls	NY	Glens Falls Waterworks Company	>30	$150		30	Terms set in legislative charter, but village built their own system
1880	Akron	OH	Erie Water and Gas Company	150	$50	$45	Perpetual	Term modified to 25 years in 1893.
1881	Jamestown	NY	Jamestown Water Supply Company	100	$60	$60	25

References
1910 Statistics of Cities Having a Population of Over 25,000 Includes fire hydrant rental rates for many cities