Edinburgh Water Company

In 1846 the council unanimously agreed to petition Parliament for the formation of a public water supply company - the Edinburgh and Leith Water Company - in order to ensure an adequate supply of water to the inhabitants. The situation was so bad that people were talking about water famine. During 1850 the first water pipes were laid not by a new water company as the council had initially wanted, but by the Edinburgh Water Company. The first water began to flow in January of 1847.