The Chelsea Waterworks Company was a London waterworks company founded in 1723 which supplied water to many

central London Central London is the innermost part of London, in England, spanning several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local government. Its characteris ...

locations throughout the 18th and 19th centuries until its functions were taken over by the Metropolitan Water Board in 1904. Chelsea Waterworks 1752

The company was established "for the better supplying the

City A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

and Liberties of Westminster and parts adjacent with water" ''The London Encyclopaedia'', Ben Weinreb & Christopher Hibbert, Macmillan, 1995, and received a Royal Charter on 8 March 1723. The company created extensive ponds in the area bordering Chelsea and

Pimlico Pimlico () is an area of Central London in the City of Westminster, built as a southern extension to neighbouring Belgravia. It is known for its garden squares and distinctive Regency architecture. Pimlico is demarcated to the north by London V ...

using water from the tidal Thames. These were to form the basis of the Grosvenor Canal which was opened to traffic in 1825. By the 19th century there were complaints about the quality of the water they were drawing from the River Thames, and in 1829, under engineer James Simpson the company became the first in the country to install a

slow sand filtration Slow sand filters are used in water purification for treating raw water to produce a potable product. They are typically deep, can be rectangular or cylindrical in cross section and are used primarily to treat surface water. The length and brea ...

system to purify the water.History of the Chelsea Waterworks
/ref> The Metropolis Water Act of 1852 prohibited the extraction of water for household purposes from the River Thames below Teddington Lock. The company moved to Seething Wells above the lock at

Surbiton Surbiton is a suburban neighbourhood in South West London, within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames (RBK). It is next to the River Thames, southwest of Charing Cross. Surbiton was in the historic county of Surrey and since 1965 it has ...

in 1856 becoming the last water company to move their inlets above the polluted tidal water zone. The site was adjacent to the Lambeth Waterworks Company, who had already moved there and who also employed Simpson. The vacated site at Pimlico was used by the railway companies to build lines into west London and London Victoria Station was built on the site of much of the Grosvenor Canal basin. The inlets at Seething Wells sucked up too much mud with the water because of turbulence caused by the River Mole,

River Ember The River Ember is a short river in the north of Surrey, England — a channel of the River Mole which splits in two south of Island Barn Reservoir, between East Molesey and Lower Green, Esher. The Ember, the larger channel, flows in an easter ...

and

The Rythe The Rythe is a river or stream in north Surrey, England which is generally open and which is a natural woodland feature for approximately half of its course before being variously culverted and a suburban garden feature, passing between Thames ...

. The Chelsea Waterworks Company attempted to build works opposite Hampton Court but followed the Lambeth Waterworks Company to a new installation at Molesey in 1875 where the

Molesey Reservoirs The Molesey Reservoirs were a group of reservoirs in England near Molesey, Surrey, in the western suburbs of London. There was an adjacent water treatment works. The reservoirs were adjacent to the River Thames on the south side on the reach ab ...

were built.A Guide to the Industrial Archaeology of the Borough of Elmbridge
/ref> Both companies were incorporated into the Metropolitan Water Board in 1902.

References

Companies established in 1723 London water infrastructure History of the City of Westminster History of the City of London Former water company predecessors of Thames Water 1723 establishments in England 1902 disestablishments in England British companies disestablished in 1902 British companies established in 1723 {{UK-company-stub