Since the settlement of the island, access to and the public supply of water has been a concern for both the rulers and the inhabitants. The oldest distribution systems operated by gravity through clay pipes and lead tubes, which fed small basins and public and private fountains scattered throughout the island.
It was only in the 1940s that the old pipes began to be replaced by ones made of fiber cement and galvanized iron, a change that coincided with a significant increase in water consumption by the population.
This item is part of the Ethnography Management Unit of the Museum of Angra do Heroísmo.
Text | Maria Manuel Ribeiro
