Phil Egan

From its very earliest days Sarnia has looked to the cool, clean waters of the St. Clair River for its daily needs.

European settlers would make the short journey to the riverbanks — short, because most villagers lived within walking distance— and dip wooden buckets in and make the journey home with the precious cargo.

It was a daily ritual.

Larger users would fill barrels or tubs, hauling them home on oxen-drawn carts or horse-drawn stone boats.

As late as the 1940s citizens here still could recall watching James Belchamber ride his cart down Front Street and haul his hotel’s water up in multiple barrels.

It didn’t take long, however, for the daily drudgery of trekking down to the riverbank to result in people turning to less burdensome solutions.

Above and below ground cisterns, and household or neighbourhood wells soon made life easier. Many also captured rainwater to conserve supplies in wells and cisterns.

Draymen would drive two-wheeled wagons to the foot of George Street, back them into the river, and fill barrels of water to sell around the town.

That was life in Sarnia at the time of Confederation, and right into the 1880s draymen were relied upon to help the people of Sarnia maintain their water supply.

By the 1870s, Sarnia was still a town principally clustered along the waterfront. The business district on Front Street was still mostly constructed of wood. A census taken in 1871 showed that there were just under 3,000 citizens.

But Sarnia was looking to the future, and public pressure began to mount for a water system capable of handling the needs of as many as 10,000.

The determination to create a city waterworks system was partially driven by fear. In the years prior to its installation, epidemics of fever, typhoid and malaria had struck the town, causing many deaths.

Public opinion blamed the suspect water system, particularly the discharges from plants and factories fronting Sarnia Bay.

In summer, the household well or cistern would often run dry, and occasionally this happened in winter as well. Citizens would then find themselves calling upon the two-wheeled platform drays that sold water drawn from the foot of Lochiel Street. The purity of Sarnia Bay was more than suspect.

In late summer, the townspeople voted 240 to 63 to shoulder a debt of $70,000 and build a waterworks system. County Council agreed to back the debentures and work got under way in the late fall of 1875, ushering in a new era for the community.