Joseph Quick (engineer)
Joseph Quick (6 November 1809 – 30 March 1894) was an English civil engineer who helped improve the piped water supply for big industrial cities in the 19th century. He was born in Chelsea, London, to Joseph Quick and Mary Ann Quick, and later married Elizabeth Mary Ann. His son, also named Joseph Quick, followed in his footsteps and wrote The Water Supply of the Metropolis (1880).
Quick’s work focused on urban water systems. In 1844 he, as engineer for the Southwark Waterworks, gave evidence to Parliament on public health and water supply. After the cholera outbreaks of 1848–49, he advised the government to reform London’s water system. A key proposal moved the water intake from the tidal Thames to upstream of Teddington Lock, helping lead to the Metropolis Water Act of 1852. This act gave Quick the job of building the Hampton Waterworks, designed in an Italianate style, which began operating in 1855.
He also served as consulting engineer to the Grand Junction Waterworks Company and oversaw the Campden Hill water tower (built 1857–58). In 1857 he and Alexander Fraser patented improvements for regulating water drawing and supply. Later, with his son, he founded an international consultancy and worked on water projects in Amsterdam, Berlin, Saint Petersburg, Antwerp and Beirut. In Saint Petersburg, the Amsterdam open-filter method did not suit the local climate.
Quick died in Clapham Park, London, and was buried in Norwood Cemetery. He was baptized at St Luke’s Church, Chelsea, in December 1809.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 15:41 (CET).