History of Lincoln

filter to kill the bacteria causing the epidemic. Chlorination of the water supply continued until 1911 when a new water supply was implemented. The Lincoln chlorination episode was one of the first uses of the chemical to disinfect a water supply. Westgate Water Tower was constructed to provide new water supplies to the city.

In the world wars, Lincoln switched to war production. The first ever tanks were invented, designed and built in Lincoln by William Foster & Co. during the First World War and population growth provided more workers for even greater expansion. The tanks were tested on land now covered by Tritton Road (in the south-west suburbs of the city). During the Second World War, Lincoln produced a vast array of war goods, from tanks, aircraft, munitions and military vehicles.

Ruston & Hornsby produced diesel engines for ships and locomotives, then by teaming up with former colleagues of Frank Whittle and Power Jets Ltd, in the early 1950s, R & H (which became RGT) opened the first ever production line to build gas turbine engines for land-based and sea-based energy production. Hugely successful, it was the largest single employer in the city, providing over 5,000 jobs in its factory and research facilities, making it a rich takeover target for industrial conglomerates. It was taken over by English Electric in November 1966, who were then bought by GEC in 1968, with diesel engine production being transferred to the Ruston Diesels Division in Newton-le-Willows, Lancashire of GEC at the former Vulcan Foundry, which was eventually bought by the German MAN Diesel (now MAN Diesel & Turbo) in June 2000.

It merged with Alstom of France in the late 1980s, then in 2003 was bought out by Siemens AG of Germany, now being called Siemens Industrial Turbomachinery