Drinking Water for the Public

Demands for cleaner drinking water in Baltimore City and County led Catonsville banker and philanthropist Victor G. Bloede to organize the Baltimore County Water and Electric Company in 1909. In 1910, his company purchased the abandoned Avalon Iron and Nail Works and built a water filtration plant on the site. A large brick building housed the pumping machinery, and concrete holding ponds settled dirt and debris out of the water; remnants of the holding ponds are still visible. Water purified at the filtration plant was pumped into southwestern Baltimore City and County. Bloede organized his company at a time when people were learning the value of natural resource conservation. Following the industrial revolution, resources were scarce, citizens needed clean drinking water, industries needed power, and towns were turning to water-generated electricity. Pollution, erosion, and sedimentation threatened a regular clean water supply. The Maryland Forestry Board, organized in 1906, helped address these issues. Patapsco Forest Reserve, which became Patapsco Valley State Park, began in 1907 with goals to plant trees and reforest the riverbanks. Tree roots hold soil in place, reducing erosion and sedimentation, and trees also filter water and absorb pollutants that run into the river with rainwater. People today still rely on the Patapsco River for clean drinking water, and Baltimore residents drink water from the river collected in Liberty Reservoir.

Arbutus, Maryland · United States