Создание правил пользования водопроводами в дворцовых городах Российской империи в конце XIX века

Abstract

This article deals with one of the aspects of the management of the palace towns – Tsarskoye Selo, Peterhof and Gatchina – by the Ministry of the Imperial Court. Research into the history of Russian towns occupies an important place in historical science. However, these settlements, which held a special position, have been understudied in terms of their development as urban organisms. The paper aimed to examine the adoption in these palace towns of regulations designed to stipulate the cost of the connection to the water supply system, equipment service solutions, and payment schemes for the services provided. The author points out that, although the town-wide water supply system in Tsarskoye Selo and Peterhof was launched almost simultaneously, the consumer–provider relations were only legally regulated in the former. The regulations covered the basic issues; however, the system had certain flexibility and allowed all citizens to use the water either for a moderate fee or free of charge. Special rules for the use of the Gatchina water supply system, which was built a few years later, were formulated simultaneously with its launch. These standards were better formalized than those in Tsarskoye Selo and stricter in terms of consumer fees. In Peterhof, the development of the rules started in the mid-1890s, after the experience of both St. Petersburg and the other two palace towns had been analysed and the data on potential consumers and possible fees had been assessed. As a result, in mid-1897, the first edition of the Rules for the Use of Water from the Peterhof Water Pipeline was adopted.