ABSTRACT
Cold water is supplied to a house for drinking, washing, cooking and for the flushing of sanitary appliances. This chapter briefly explains how cold water is supplied, stored and distributed.
Water supply to houses did not become the norm until the latter part of the nineteenth century. Before this, water was collected in rooftop collection tanks, rainwater butts, from nearby streams or wells or from public conduits, although some households would have had access to a private water supply from a spring or well. Individual households collected their own water or purchased it from a delivery cart. The intermittent nature of the first water supply led to the practice of storing water in cisterns. At first, these cisterns, which were often made of lead, were located outside the house. Later, the storage cisterns were moved inside.
