Archives West Finding Aid

A public waterworks was created by City Charter amendment in 1875. However, Seattle was served primarily by small private water companies for the next decade-and-a-half. Following the Great Fire of 1889, citizens voted to fund creation of a municipally owned water system. The City purchased the private systems and began development of the Cedar River Watershed, and since 1891, has owned and operated a municipal water system. The system was administered by the Superintendent of Water under the auspices of the Board of Public Works. In 1905 the Department of Lighting and Water Works was created. Five years later, the Water Department became a separate entity. Most of the water used by the Seattle Water Department came from the Cedar River Watershed property, which also provided income for the department through the selling of logging rights. Several timber companies including Weyerhaeuser Company, Scott Paper Company and Pacific States Lumber Company, all had contracts with the Water Department. In the 1950s, Seattle voters chose to add fluoride to the city's water supply and charged the Water Department with the task of fluoridating. The election was a close one, however, and debate over the policy lasted into the '70s. In 1997 the Water Department was consolidated with the utilities of the Engineering Department to form Seattle Public Utilities.