Water Supply and Protection of Reservoirs from Pollution in the Resolutions of the Municipal Authorities of the Russian Empire
https://doi.org/10.69571/SSPU.2025.99.6.013
Abstract
City Reform of 1870 granted city councils the authority to issue binding regulations concerning urban improvement and protection of public health. These regulations governed the principles of collection, storage, and disposal of household and industrial waste; the selection and delivery of water for drinking and cooking; imposed prohibitions on the pollution of urban territories and water bodies; and placed obligations on homeowners and industrialists to maintain cleanliness within their properties. This article is devoted to analyzing the mandatory resolutions of city dumas of the Russian Empire from the perspective of the evolution of legal regulation regarding water supply and the protection of water bodies from pollution in the period from 1870 to the 1910s. The primary source was the compilation «Water Supply and Methods of Sewage Disposal in Russian Cities» (1912), upon which the author created an analytical database that enabled a comparative content analysis of over 600 mandatory regulations from 263 cities across 75 provinces and regions. The study identified a common core of resolutions characteristic of most regions. These norms, which pertain to the regulation of water-carrying practices, the construction of wells, and the prohibition of water pollution, indicate the predominance at the beginning of the twentieth century of «archaic» technologies in water supply and sanitation. Furthermore, the regulations issued by the city dumas clearly demonstrate the prioritization of public health over private economic interests, as evidenced by stringent regulation of water-carrying activities and prohibitions on certain traditional forms of economic enterprises.
About the Author
A. B. AgafonovaRussian Federation
Agafonova Anna Borisovna — Candidate of Science (History), independent researcher
References
1. Agafonova A. B. “Sobranie obyazatel’nykh postanovleniy, izdannykh gorodami i zemstvami Novgorodskoy gubernii” kak istochnik po istorii normirovaniya vzaimodeystviya gorozhan s prirodnoy sredoy [“Collection of mandatory resolutions issued by the cities and zemstvos of Novgorod Province” as a source on the history of regulating the interaction of townspeople with the natural environment] // Vestnik Udmurtskogo universiteta. Seriya Istoriya i filologiya. 2020. no. 4. S. 598–606. (In Russian).
2. Borisov A. V. Meropriyatiya gorodskikh obshchestvennykh upravleniy Penzenskoy gubernii po okhrane obshchestvennogo poryadka v kontse XIX — nachale XX v. [Measures of urban public administrations of Penza Province for the protection of public order at the end of the 19th — beginning of the 20th century] // Izvestiya vysshikh uchebnykh zavedeniy. Povolzhskiy region. 2016. no. 2. S. 63–71. (In Russian).
3. Vodosnabzhenie i sposoby udaleniya nechistot v gorodakh Rossii [Water supply and methods of sewage disposal in Russian cities]. St. Petersburg: Tipografiya Ministerstva Vnutrennikh Del. 1912. 270, 215 s. (In Russian).
4. Voronich T. V. Sanitariya i obyazatel’nye postanovleniya gubernskogo goroda Minska (poslednyaya tret’ XIX — nachalo XX v.) [Sanitation and mandatory resolutions of the provincial city of Minsk (late 19th — early 20th century)] // Trudy BGTU. Seriya 6: Istoriya, filosofiya. 2021. no. 1(245). S. 38–41. (In Russian).
5. Gorodovoe polozhenie so vsemi otnosyashchimisya k nemu uzakoneniyami, sudebnymi i pravitel’stvennymi raz’yasneniyami [City statute with all relevant laws, judicial and government explanations] / Sost. M. I. Mysh. St. Petersburg: Tip. N. A. Lebedeva. 1888. 932 s. (In Russian).
6. Pogozhev A. V. Obzor mestnykh obyazatel’nykh postanovleniy po fabrichnoy sanitarii v Rossii [Overview of local mandatory resolutions on factory sanitation in Russia]. St. Petersburg: Tip. M-va Vnutrennikh Del. 1894. 134 s. (In Russian).
7. Sbornik obyazatel’nykh postanovleniy po gorodu Moskve i Moskovskoy gubernii [Collection of mandatory resolutions for the city of Moscow and Moscow Province] / Sost. A. K. Bukunovskiy. Moscow: Pravovedenie. 1905. 355 s. (In Russian).
8. Svod obyazatel’nykh dlya zhiteley g. Kieva postanovleniy po gorodskomu obshchestvennomu upravleniyu s prilozheniem izvlecheniy iz kontraktov g. Kieva s ego koncessionerami [Collection of mandatory resolutions for residents of Kiev on municipal public administration with extracts from contracts of the city of Kiev with its concessionaires] / Pod. red. O. O. Eykhelman. Kiev: Tip. I. I. Chokolova. 1900. 304 s. (In Russian).
9. Semenov D. D. Gorodskoe samoupravlenie: ocherki i opyty [Municipal self-government: essays and experiences]. St. Petersburg: Elektro-tipografiya N. Ya. Stoykovoy. 1901. 387 s. (In Russian).
10. Sobranie obyazatel’nykh postanovleniy, izdannykh gorodami i zemstvami Novgorodskoy gubernii [Collection of mandatory resolutions issued by the cities and zemstvos of Novgorod Province]. Novgorod: Tip. Novgorodskogo gubernskogo zemstva. 1885. 241 s. (In Russian).
11. Ukaz Pravitel’stvuyushchego Senata № 9501 ot 7 oktyabrya 1903 g. [Decree of the Governing Senate No. 9501 of October 7, 1903] // Ukazy Senata po gorodskim delam (1900–1910) [Senate decrees on city affairs (1900–1910)] / Sost. P. D. Mantsevich. Yaroslavl: Tip. Gub. Pravleniya. 1911. S. 66–68. (In Russian).
12. Ustav vrachebnye [Medical statute] // Svod zakonov Rossiyskoy Imperii. Vol. 13. St. Petersburg: Russkoye knizhnoye tovarishchestvo “Deyatel’”. 1912. S. 176–353. (In Russian).
13. Ustav o nakazaniyakh, nalagayemykh Mirovymi Sud’yami [Statute on punishments imposed by Justices of the Peace] // Svod zakonov Rossiyskoy Imperii. Vol. 15. St. Petersburg: Russkoye knizhnoye tovarishchestvo “Deyatel’”. 1912. S 203–234. (In Russian).
14. Ustav stroitel’nyy [Building statute]. Svod zakonov Rossiyskoy Imperii. Vol. 12, Part 1. St. Petersburg: Russkoye knizhnoye tovarishchestvo “Deyatel’”. 1912. S. 208–242. (In Russian).
15. Tsirkulyar Depart. Polits. Ispoln. 4 dekabrya 1878 g. № 181. O nedozvolenii svozit’ nechistoty na led rek i ozer [Circular of the Department of Police Enforcement December 4, 1878, No. 181. On the prohibition of dumping sewage onto ice of rivers and lakes] // Sbornik tsirkulyarov i rasporyazheniy Ministerstva Vnutrennikh Del, otnosyashchikhsya do gg. gubernatorov, vitse-gubernatorov, sovetnikov gubernskikh pravleniy, kantselyariy gg. gubernatorov, gubernskikh tipografiy, stroitel’nykh i vrachebnykh otdeleniy s 1858 po 1894 god / Sost. V. P. Urusov. Moscow: Gubernskaya tipografiya. 1894. S. 366. (In Russian).
16. Tsirkulyar Ministerstva Vnutrennikh Del № 1445 ot 4 dekabrya 1911 g. “Sanitarnye trebovaniya, kotorym dolzhny udovletvoryat’ stochnye vody, spuskayemye v obshchestvennye vodoyomy” [Circular of the Ministry of Internal Affairs No. 1445 of December 4, 1911 “Sanitary requirements to be met by wastewater discharged into public water bodies”]. St. Petersburg: Izdatel’stvo “Prakticheskaya meditsina”. 1913. S. 419. (In Russian).
17. Shcherbakov S. V. Obyazatel’nye postanovleniya gorodskoy dumy vtoroy poloviny XIX veka [Mandatory resolutions of the city duma in the second half of the 19th century]. Vestnik Nizhegorodskoy akademii MVD Rossii. 2010. No. 1. S. 65–67. (In Russian).
Review
For citations:
Agafonova A.B. Water Supply and Protection of Reservoirs from Pollution in the Resolutions of the Municipal Authorities of the Russian Empire. Surgut State Pedagogical University Bulletin. 2025;(6(99)):133-141. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.69571/SSPU.2025.99.6.013
Views:
50
Email this article 