41. The water revolution in the contemporary city

In the second half of the 19^th century, the preceding technological stability was overturned with the advent of water pumping which brought about a major change in water management and use in Barcelona. The supply of water to the Eixample took shape as the main problem to be workrf out and the trigger for the process.

The new technical paradigm, population growth and scientific and cultural changes, such as the hygiene movement, were key factors in water policy. Public provision yielded to a series of private initiatives which emerged in the last decades of the 19^th century and eventually merged in a single large dominant company.