In late Victorian Sheffield taking a bath was anything but relaxing. In 1883, Charles Bingham appeared in the High Court to dispute the extra charge for his bath water. Rather than pay the amount estimated by the Sheffield water company, Bingham, an electroplate manufacturer, had adopted an unusual method of measurement. Around the sides of his tub, he had painted a waterline to mark the point where the bath held exactly thirty-two gallons. Opposite the tub hung a calendar. He told his family and servants never to fill the bath above the line, and to mark each use on the calendar. Added up, the numbers would show how much water had `actually been used' over the year. Bath water was charged at 1s. 1/2d. per thousand gallons. This was in addition to the water supplied for `domestic purposes', such as cooking, subject to a local rate based on the property value of the home. Without his personal measurement Bingham believed he would be overcharged. The judge was not persuaded. It was a `most unsatisfactory mode of measuring the water'. What if a nurse went to bathe a child and found the water too hot? She would probably let some water out and add cold water. There was also the `carelessness and negligence of servants' to consider. The water company was entitled to payment for the amount used, and Bingham was required to use a meter.1 In London's East End, working-class consumers adopted rather different tactics. The 1870s to 1890s had seen the breakthrough of continuous supply that brought water day and night to 482,317 London households by 1891.2 In July 1896, amidst a series of summer shortages, however, the East London Waterworks Company reverted to intermittent supply.
...MoreDescription Covers the impact of water supply upon working-class consumers in nineteenth century England and the regulation and measurement of water use.
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