Editing Bow Back Rivers (section)

===Public water supply===
Water was extracted from the rivers to provide a public water supply. The opening of the [[New River (London)|New River]] in 1633, a {{convert|40|mi|km|adj=on}} channel built to bring water to London from Amwell springs, and soon afterwards from the River Lea near [[Ware, Hertfordshire|Ware]], had a detrimental effect on both navigation and milling by reducing water levels.<ref>{{harvnb |Boyes |Russell |1977 |p=17}}</ref> Around 1745, the West Ham Waterworks Company built a waterworks at Saynes Mill in Stratford, the river on which it was located later being known as Waterworks River.<ref name=WestHam/> The East London Waterworks Company was set up in 1807, and built works at Old Ford, where they extracted water from the river. The supply to the works was moved further upstream in 1829, and in 1830 they built a canal, running parallel to the Hackney Cut, so that water could be obtained from Lea Bridge.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ph.ucla.edu/epi/snow/1859map/eastlondon_waterworks.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200610150111/http://www.ph.ucla.edu/epi/snow/1859map/eastlondon_waterworks.html |archive-date=10 June 2020 |url-status=live |title=East London Waterworks Company, Brief history during the Snow era, 1813–1858 |publisher=UCLA Epidemiology |access-date=31 July 2008}}</ref> Much of the work was carried out by the contractor [[William Hoof]], who had gained a reputation as a specialist tunnelling contractor, after working on Strood Tunnel for the [[Thames and Medway Canal]] and [[Harecastle Tunnel]] on the [[Trent and Mersey Canal]]. He worked on the waterworks project from 1829 until 1834.<ref>{{harvnb |Skempton |2002 |p=334}}</ref> Where there had been a reservoir to the south of the Middlesex Filter Beds weir in 1850,<ref name=os1850>Ordnance Survey, London Town Plans, 1:5280, 1850</ref> maps from 1870 show the site occupied by a waterworks, and the canal which supplied the Old Ford works running beside the Hackney Cut. Another large reservoir, triangular in shape, was located between the old river and the Hackney Cut at Old Ford, with two connections to the old river. The water supply canal passed under the old river to feed two compensation reservoirs to the north of the [[Great Eastern Railway]] tracks. A covered reservoir was situated on the west bank of the old river.<ref name=os1870>Ordnance Survey 1:2500 map, 1870</ref>

The Waterworks River underwent considerable change over the years. In 1850, it left the channel of the Old River Lee much further to the north, to the south-west of Temple Mills railway depot. It was called Lead Mills Stream at this point. Near Temple Mills bridge, now on the A12 road, Channelsea River split off. The two channels ran parallel to the Old River Lee, before Channelsea River turned to the south-east. There was another small connection between the Old River Lee and the Waterworks River called Bully Fence, where the northern Channelsea River is shown on modern maps.<ref name=os1850/> By 1870, it was called Waterworks River as far north as Temple Mills depot,<ref name=os1870/> and by 1896, its present connection to the old river near to Carpenters Road had been established.<ref>Ordnance Survey, 1:2500 map, 1896</ref> Twenty years later, the northern Waterworks River rejoined the Lee at Bully Fence, and the section between there and Carpenters Road had been filled in.<ref>Ordnance Survey, 1:2500 map, 1916</ref> At some point, the connection at Bully Fence became the main source for the Channelsea River, although the 1953/66 map still shows it connected to the remnants of the system to the north, for drainage.<ref>Ordnance Survey, 1:2500 map, 1953/1966</ref> Administrative boundaries still follow the northern course of the Waterworks River.