Parched City: A History Of London's Public And Private Drinking Water

Emma M Jones, author of Parched City: A History of London's Public and Private Drinking Water (Zero Books 2013), illustrates how perceptions of the capital's water quality have evolved from 1827 to 2012 using words, images and a film extract from the Guildhall Library and LMA collections.

Featuring in this whistle-stop drinking water tour are: The Dolphin, a pamphlet which opened the floodgates on the nineteenth century’s infamous ‘water question’; enigmatic bacteriologist Sir Alexander Houston and the events of 1916; scenes from the Blitz; drinking fountains; and a rant, or two, about bottled water and its environmental impact.

Includes a wine reception.