A Century of Water Supply Companies and Their Influence on the Development of Spanish Society (1842–1942)

Francisco-Javier Pérez-De-La-Cruz,Joaquín Melgarejo-Moreno,Arturo Trapote-Jaume,Jesús Chazarra-Zapata

doi:10.3390/w12092634

Francisco-Javier Pérez-De-La-Cruz, Joaquín Melgarejo-Moreno + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/w12092634

Copy DOI

Abstract

During a certain period in the history of Spain, in the years of the Second Industrial Revolution, water companies played a very important role in managing a public service as necessary and complex as the supply of drinking water to the population. This article describes the emergence of these companies in the economic framework of the second half of the 19th century, as well as their expansion and territorial distribution, their evolution towards large companies that unified and monopolised the sector and their progressive decline in the 20th century, characterised by an increase in municipal control and influenced by different national and international war conflicts. The data collected in the different statistical yearbooks allows us to study these companies, and identify the characteristics of the modern drinking water system in Spain, together with the importance of foreign investment and the influence of these companies on the economic development of the time.

Highlights

The widespread development that took place due to the second industrial revolution brought about a remarkable urban growth, which led to a great increase and diversification of the demand for collective services
It is precisely at this time that the model changed from a classic system to a modern drinking water system [1]
Given that the objective of the study is to characterize the set of water supply companies that carried out their activity in Spain in a given period of time, the methodology to be followed is based on the search for information related to these companies and their activity at the business level

Summary

Introduction

The widespread development that took place due to the second industrial revolution brought about a remarkable urban growth, which led to a great increase and diversification of the demand for collective services. The development of these services was characterised by technological advances and by the required process of organization and regulation that allowed these new activities to be regulated. The classic system was characterised by the scarce consumption per capita, the different types of supply, both collective (ditches, aqueducts) and individual (wells, cisterns), the technical limitations, which translated into difficulties for the supply both in quantity and quality and the limited organization established by the city councils.

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion