The National Administration of State Sanitary Works (OSE) (Spanish: Administración Nacional de las Obras Sanitarias del Estado) is the state-owned Uruguayan Water Utilities company.
History
The water service in Uruguay dates back to the year 1867, when after a great drought, the National Government made a call and finally gave Enrique Fynn and other associates a concession to supply piped water to Montevideo.[1] In 1868 the construction of a steam pumping plant began, a pipeline of almost 60 km and the installation of three fountains (Constitution Square, Plaza Artola and Plaza Flores) that received water for the supply of residents in the city.[2] On May 13, 1871, the water pumped from the Santa Lucía River to the center of Montevideo arrived for the first time. On July 18 of that same year, the service was officially inaugurated with an act in which President Lorenzo Batlle y Grau participated.[3] The place chosen to install the plant was an almost isolated area, without roads or trains, on the banks of the