Roger Hope-Elleston, the 'then owner' of Hope Estate, constructed a conduit into the town of Kingston at his own expense. In so doing, he provided Kingston with the surplus of water from his property.

The Duke of Buckingham, who married Elleston's wife, later cancelled the concession. Kingston then lost its first supply of running water.

The Kingston and Liguanea Water Company was incorporated. Subsequently, land from the Hope Estate was acquired. This also included water rights to the Hope River. Many people at this time had to purchase their daily supply of water from carts selling in the streets.

Water from the Hope River was taken to North Street via a gutter.

The seat of Government was moved from Spanish Town to Kingston.

The Government-appointed Board, Kingston and Liguanea Water Works took control of the Water Company lands. More land was purchased in Constant Spring and two new reservoirs were constructed. A decision was made to construct a filter plant at Cavaliers Pen (now commonly called Marescaux Road). One 2 ½ million gallon settling basin, two half acre slow sand filter beds and a 3 million gallon filtered water reservoir were constructed. This was one of the first facilities in the Western Hemisphere to have filtered water. Due to the successful performance of the filters, it was decided to construct slow sand beds at Constant Spring as purifiers.

The Kingston Improvement Commission established a water borne sewerage system, with a central pumping station at lower Darling Street. This included approximately 30 miles of street and intercepting sewers.

The Kingston General Commission was created to take over the water and sewerage works of the Kingston Improvement Commission.

The Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation came into effect as a result of an amalgamation of the Kingston City Council, the St. Andrew Parochial Board and the Kingston General Commissioners.

First chlorinator installed at the Constant Spring Water Treatment Plant.

The Water and Sewerage Board was formed and took control of water and sewerage from the office of the KSAC. First electronically operated well was officially commissioned into service.

The Water Commission was formed to replace the Water and Sewerage Board.

Lands to be used by the University of the West Indies were transferred by the Water Commission.

1842 - 1870

The Kingston and Liguanea Water Company was incorporated in 1842 to provide piped water to sections of Kingston. At that time, the supply was delivered exclusively from shallow open wells. Residences of persons in the higher income groups and business premises had their own wells while the poorer ones purchased water from water carts which operated on the streets or from pumps at certain street intersections.

By 1849, the Kingston and Liguanea Water Works Company started to supply Kingston with water after the construction of transmission mains from the Hope River to two open reservoirs at Montgomery Corner, and distribution mains into Kingston. The combined capacity of the Montgomery Corner reservoirs was 2 million gallons.

After the transfer of the island’s capital from Spanish Town to Kingston in 1870, the private development of water supplies was no longer encouraged and the Government purchased the assets of the Kingston and Liguanea Water Works Company.

1871 - 1900

On January 1, 1871, the assets of the former Kingston and Liguanea Water Works were vested by the Government in a Board known as the Kingston and Liguanea Water Works Commissioners. Members of this Board were nominated by the Government.

One of the major undertakings of this Board was the construction of a slow sand filter water treatment plant at Cavaliers Pen and a masonry conduit to convey water from the Hope River to this plant. This water treatment plant was one of the earliest to be constructed in the Western Hemisphere and remained in use essentially unchanged until taken out of service early in 1977. In addition, some thirty miles of new distribution mains were installed and fire hydrants were installed in the system for the first time.

These works were completed in 1876 and about the same time a compulsory water area, which embraced Kingston and its immediate environs, was declared. All property owners within the declared area were required to pay water charges in return for which a free ½ " service connection was provided. Outside of this area, the supply of water to the individual consumers was negotiated by contract. By 1880 some 4,000 consumers were connected to the system with an average daily demand of 2 million gallons.

In 1890, the Kingston Improvement Commission was established and had the responsibility of constructing a sewerage system for Kingston. Some 30 miles of street and intercepting sewers were installed which were collected at a pump station on Darling Street. These pumped the collected sewage out to sea beyond Harbour Head. Work was completed in 1895 some two years after commencement.

In 1897, the Kingston General Commissioners was created by Law 24 to take over and operate both the water works and sewerage system.

In 1898, a four million gallon per day slow sand filter plant was constructed at Constant Spring in St. Andrew.

By thea turn of the century, the average daily water demand was in excess of 5 million gallons. In 1912 the Ferry River Project was inaugurated to provide water from the Ferry River to the Cavaliers Treatment Works. This scheme was abandoned in 1942 after intermittent use, because of problems of taste, odour and colour.

In early 1923, the Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation Law (No. 3 of 1923) came into effect giving the KSAC responsibility for water and sewerage systems. Plans were initiated for extensive improvements to the city’s amenities. This included reconstructing city streets, installing water mains and sewers and the construction of sewage disposal facilities at Greenwhich Farm.

The construction of the Hermitage Reservoir commenced in 1924 and was completed in 1927.

In 1930 the average daily water demand was about 10 million gallons. It was necessary to lock off the water supply in St. Andrew for up to 12 hours per day as the existing facilities were inadequate to cope with the severe drought experienced then.

The Water and Sewerage Board was established in 1933 and was replaced in 1936 by the Water Commission by Law 34 of 1936. The Water Commission commenced operations in 1937 and, with only the revisions arising from changes in the Constitution and Government of Jamaica (the establishment of a Ministerial system and attainment of Independence), this body remained responsible for water supply and sewerage in the Corporate Area which comprise the parishes of Kingston and St. Andrew.

Between 1936 and 1939, the water distribution system was significantly expanded with the installation of some 50 miles of new trunk and distribution mains. The Seaview Rapid Gravity Filter Plant (0.3 mgd) was completed in 1937 and a new 8 mgd rapid gravity plant constructed at Constant Spring to replace the slow sand filter plant was completed in 1939. Additional water was obtained from the Montgomery Corner and Long Mountain Wells which were completed in 1938.

The Western Sewerage Treatment plant was commissioned in 1939 and was Jamaica’s first sewerage treatment works. The upgrading of the Darling Street Pump Station followed and the sewering of new areas such as Rae Town and Denham Town were also done.

Work commenced on the construction of The Mona Reservoir in 1942 which began receiving water in 1946 and was filled to its capacity by 1948. Serious leaks developed and following extensive repairs, it was put into service in 1959.

The Water Commission continued improving the water supply to the Corporate Area with expansion of existing works and the construction of new ones. The Trench Town, Forest Hills, Rennock Lodge and Oakland Wells were constructed in the 1949/50 period under a major thrust on groundwater development. The Ginger River Intakes and Pipeline, expansion of the Constant Spring Treatment Plant, the installation of an additional 100 miles of water mains, construction of new reservoirs and booster stations were some of the major undertakings in the 1950's.

By 1960, there were over 29,000 customers and the average daily demand was in excess of 20 million gallons.

The period 1960 to 1970 saw the establishment of several new residential communities in various sections of St. Andrew. To meet the increased water demand imposed by these developments, the Water Commission implemented a number of water supply projects: development of new groundwater sources at Chancery Hall, Havendale, Hampstead, White Marl and Cavaliers; construction of the Boar River Intakes and Pipeline; expansion of the Seaview Treatment plant from 0.4 mgd to 1.4 mgd and Constant Spring from 12 to 18 mgd; construction of several miles of trunk and distribution mains.

At the beginning of the 1970's, the average daily water demand had increased to 30 mgd and the water supply capacity was not adequate to meet this demand throughout the year. Water restrictions and rationing became an annual feature of the Commission’s operations. The Rio Cobre Water Supply Scheme was implemented during the 1970's and provided an average of 6 mgd of water to the Water Commission's supply system.

Attention was paid in the 1940's to providing supplies to the hill areas and the more remote districts in the country. An extensive rain water tank programme was undertaken during this period.

It should be noted that there were several large rural communities, located at elevations about 2,000 feet above sea level, which had developed and which did not have easy access to water resources. These communities such as Mandeville, Christiana, Spauldings, Guys Hill, Malvern, browns Town and Claremont, had developed because of their cool and salubrious climate. Water supply schemes to provide water to these communities were considered prohibitively expensive. As a result many houses in these communities were built with individual rainwater catchment tanks.

Water supply schemes were implemented for Mandeville and Christiana, two of the hilly areas, before the beginning of the 1960's.

The Water Supplies Branch of the Public Works Department designed and constructed major and intermediate water systems up until 1958 when it was transferred to the Ministry of Home Affairs. On completion of the water supply project, the Water Supply Branch would hand over the schemes to the Parish Council for operation and maintenance.

A report entitled, "Community Water Supply Development in Jamaica" was prepared in 1961 which recommended the establishment of an All-Island Water Authority and outlined a comprehensive programme for development of water supplies throughout the twelve rural parishes of Jamaica.

In 1963, the National Water Authority (NWA) was established by the National Water Authority Act, No. 10 of 1963. The Authority was subject to the general policy direction of the Minister of Local Government.

The initial focus of the NWA was to carry out the planning, design and construction of the major water systems in areas outside Kingston and St. Andrew. It also provided technical advice and assistance to the Parish Councils and monitored the quality of water supplied to consumers.

An intensive programme to construct new water supply systems and to upgrade existing ones throughout the island was pursued by the NWA. These included Morant Bay, Yallahs, Linstead/Ewarton/Bog Walk, Old Harbour, May Pen/Freetown, Hayes, Porus, Christiana/Spaldings, Pedro Plains, Savanna-la-mar, Bullstrode/Grange Hill, Lucea/Negril, Montego Bay/Falmouth, Dornoch, Ocho Rios, Walkers Wood, Port Maria/Oracabessa, Buff Bay and the Annotto Bay Water Supply Systems.

The NWA’s role eventually expanded to include operating and maintaining the major facilities and selling bulk potable water to the Parish Councils.

The NWA also designed, constructed, maintained and operated sewerage systems outside the Corporate Area.