Abstract

LOPEZ MORA, Rebeca. Too Much Water, Too Little Water: Public Fountains and the Social Life of Water in Mexico City, 1770-1818. Hist. mex. [online]. 2021, vol.71, n.2, pp.755-798.  Epub Oct 18, 2021. ISSN 2448-6531.  https://doi.org/10.24201/hm.v71i2.4343.

This article studies the water distribution system in Mexico City from 1770 to 1818. It aims to reread the capital’s urban space through its public and private fountains, data that was obtained from visits conducted by the municipal government in 1818 to the 32 quarters into which the city was divided for its administration and territorial control, as well as the demographic data from 1816 on these same demarcations. These two variables were combined to obtain the factor of residents per water source, allowing us to identify zones of abundant water, intermediate zones or zones of connection and zones of scarcity and total lack of water. The way the city was zoned allows us to study its quarters, evaluating the role played by public fountains in each one. At the same time, there is a study of the functioning of the underground branch lines, which, as they were gravity-based, impeded the distribution of water to those areas located far from the aqueducts and led to occasional spillage and waste where the Santa Fe and Chapultepec aqueducts entered the city. This allows us to formulate a new approach to the role that public fountains played in the everyday life of Mexico City residents.

Keywords : Mexico City; Water; Distribution; Aqueduct; Public Fountains.