Introduction:

The city of Philadelphia in the United States of America was an important center for the development of the industrial revolution and capitalism in that country. In the 1820´s, it finally got an efficient first-class aqueduct that produced clean and cheap water. The Philadelphia waterworks inspired the construction of Fernando VII aqueduct in Havana and the foundries of the US city supplied the pipes and other elements used in the works.

Objectives:

To describe the process of construction of the waterworks of the city of Philadelphia in the early decades of the XIX century, to explain the influence of the second Philadelphia waterworks upon the construction of Fernando VII aqueduct in Havana through the changes of the original project made by Nicolas Campos, to characterize Fernando VII aqueduct.

Methods:

Bibliographical review and document review at the National Archive of the Republic of Cuba, observation and photography.

Results:

The achievement of Fernando VII aqueduct in Havana was to a great extent the result of the influence of the second waterworks of the city of Philadelphia and the economic perspective of the Watering Committee and the City Council of that city. The new aqueduct in Havana introduced plumbing in Cuba, allowing for the use of flowing water inside the buildings and improving the hygiene of the city. Even when the Albear waterworks was inaugurated in 1893, the plan of that engineer was to use most of the distribution system of Fernando VII aqueduct to distribute its water. Some of these ancient pipes are still in use in Havana.

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