<P> The S - bend pipe was invented by Alexander Cummings in 1775 but became known as the U-bend following the introduction of the U-shaped trap by Thomas Crapper in 1880 . The first screw - down water tap was patented in 1845 by Guest and Chrimes, a brass foundry in Rotherham . </P> <P> Founders of microscopy, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek and Robert Hooke, used the newly invented microscope to observe for the first time small material particles that were suspended in the water, laying the groundwork for the future understanding of waterborne pathogens and waterborne diseases . </P> <P> Sir Francis Bacon attempted to desalinate sea water by passing the flow through a sand filter . Although his experiment didn't succeed, it marked the beginning of a new interest in the field . </P> <P> The first documented use of sand filters to purify the water supply dates to 1804, when the owner of a bleachery in Paisley, Scotland, John Gibb, installed an experimental filter, selling his unwanted surplus to the public . This method was refined in the following two decades by engineers working for private water companies, and it culminated in the first treated public water supply in the world, installed by engineer James Simpson for the Chelsea Waterworks Company in London in 1829 . This installation provided filtered water for every resident of the area, and the network design was widely copied throughout the United Kingdom in the ensuing decades . </P>

When were the first laws passed to deal with water pollution