A History of Water in Istanbul: Water Problems in Ottoman Istanbul, its Historical Origins and Foreign Water Companies

Kazgan, Haydar and Önal, Sami. İstanbul'da Suyun Tarihi: İstanbul'un Su
Sorununun Tarihsel Kökenleri ve Osmanlı'da Yabancı Su Şirketleri.
İstanbul: İletişim Yayınları, 1999, 167pp.

ABSTRACT

A History of Water in Istanbul: Water
Problems in Ottoman Istanbul, its Historical Origins and Foreign Water
Companies

İstanbul'da Suyun Tarihi: İstanbul'un Su
Sorununun Tarihsel Kökenleri ve Osmanlı'da Yabancı Su Şirketleri

The book is
composed of short articles. The authors have tried to investigate the role of
water in Istanbul’s economic history, looking at the historical roots of
modern-day water-related problems. They talk about the various solutions to
water management offered by foreign water companies in the nineteenth century;
some of these ideas were implemented, while others were not. The authors
emphasise that European water companies were looking for markets to sell the
old fashioned technologies they were stuck with, and they put pressure on
Ottoman administrators to gain access to the Ottoman markets.

The work
provides detailed information on the difficulties encountered by foreign
companies in distributing water, and the problems public institutions faced
while trying to pay their water bills. It discusses the contributions made by a
municipality to resolve water supply issues, and the role played by foundations
in the supply of water.

 It depicts the takeover by institutions (e.g.
the Department of Water and the Department of Foundations (evkaf)) of the waterworks as the population of the city increased,
as well as the foreign water companies which were founded in the nineteenth
century. The book covers the projects that were developed, as well as the
frequent urban fires that contributed to water shortage.

At the end of
the book, the authors provide samples of contracts made with foreign companies
in the nineteenth century, newspaper extracts from the national and foreign
press talking about Istanbul’s water problem, as well as a small album which
includes drawings and photographs of Istanbul. These short articles do not
contain references and they serve to provide the reader with general
information on issues related to water in Istanbul.

Feryal
Tansuğ

Translated
by Aysu Dincer