Man who turned on the city's taps

Without Thomas Hawksley we might never have had running water

Engineer Thomas Hawksley designed a major new water system in Nottingham in the 1830s that helped save many lives.

In the early 1800s epidemics of cholera and typhoid killed thousands of people.

Part of the problem was put down to the condition of water supplies - which was polluted and contaminated.

Hawksley's design was needed as the population of Nottingham was increasing rapidly. Between 1720 and 1830 it jumped from from 10,000 to 50,000.

For instance, the water supply from the River Leen became contaminated with sewage and industrial waste.

The water pioneer

Hawksley was born in Arnold in 1807. Today he's regarded as one of the greatest 19th century water engineers.

He was working for the Trent Waterworks Company in 1831 when he designed the country's first water system that provided a supply at constant high pressure which reduced any contamination from entering the mains.

Clean water became available at the turn of a tap.

Hawksley was 25 years old when he made the breakthrough.

Prior to this all water used in Nottingham was taken from shallow wells or direct from rivers and had to be distributed manually.

Many parts of the world are still without running water

Saving lives

Proof that Hawksley's methods worked came just over a decade later. Between 1848-49, thousands of people in towns throughout Britain died as another cholera epidemic spread through the country.

Nottingham was one of the few towns not to be badly affected, despite the fact it had notoriously bad housing conditions.

The success in Nottingham led to Hawksley being asked to supervise water projects around Britain.

Upgrades in Liverpool, Sheffield, Leicester, Leeds, Derby, Darlington, Oxford, Cambridge, Sunderland, Wakefield and Northampton were all overseen by Thomas Hawksley.

His fame spread. He was honoured in Sweden, Denmark and Brazil for solving their water distribution and storage problems.

Back home he was elected president of the Institution of Civil Engineers, Institution of Mechanical Engineers and Institution of Gas Engineers.

In 1878 he was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society and he died in 1893.