The “utopian” city that William Penn envisioned was quickly disappearing by the late 1700’s. In 1793, the yellow fever began to spread throughout the city. There was a general consensus that the disease was caused by the inadequate water supply. The public rounded up and petitioned the city that they find means to provide clean water to its residents. As a result, plans were made to draw water from the Schuylkill River. Water works set an engineering precedent as the first facility of its kind in the US. It made the city of Philadelphia safer and more pleasant to live in with the easy access to water. Throughout the first Industrial revolution the Schuylkill continued to supply water to the city, but not without impact to the quality of the water. Philadelphia’s need for a clean water supply in the early nineteenth century, met by technological advances, soon transformed into a need for a purified water supply which was eventually met by advances in science. By exploring the effect of Industrialization on Water Works, the impact these changes had upon society’s view of health at the time can be understood. The yellow fever epidemics in Philadelphialed to the creation of the Watering committee in 1799. The sole purpose of the committee was to obtain a clean water supply for the city. The Watering Committee decided the water would be obtained from the Schuylkill River, because of its high quality compared to surrounding bodies of water. In 1801, a Philadelphian mechanic, William Henry Latrobe, put into operation his Water Works at Centre Square. His design consisted of asteam engine used to pump water from the Schuylkill River to a reservoir where it would be distributed by gravity through wooden pipes throughout the city. “The Centre Square system illustrated the manner in which a purely utilitarian function could be housed in a structure that gave no indication of its purpose and was a harmonious and attractive addition to its surroundings. That all the parts...