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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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water
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The provision of conduits, wells and pumps to make water available in towns and villages was traditionally a civic or parish responsibility. But when technology made it possible to send water through pipes to individual houses, commercial interests took up the challenge of providing this service – from as early as the 17C. As with the later piping of *gas, the proliferation of private companies eventually became uneconomic. From the late 19C municipal authorities gradually took responsibility for the water supply. In London, for example, the newly formed Metropolitan Water Board took over in 1904 the capital city's eight private water companies. Subsequently the Water Act of 1973 reorganized all the municipal water services of England and Wales into ten regional authorities.
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It was these water authorities which were sold in 1989 as ten independent companies, in the most controversial of the Conservative government's acts of *privatization. Many in Britain felt that the supply of water, more than any other commodity, should remain a public service.
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