In a post of 2006 I wrote that I could never have been an entrepreneur or venture capitalist because I would dismiss so many money-making ideas as ridiculous. I cited the proposition that in Britain water could be sold to people in plastic bottles at many multiples of the price of inexpensive, pure and palatable tap water. I would have dismissed this out of hand, and I still find it extraordinarythat money can be made in this way. Equally puzzling to me is the notion of water-filters. I can understand their use in parts of the world where the water is not purified and on tap. But, in countries where those conditions do prevail why does anyone buy water filters? The fact is that all the necessary filtration is done before the water comes out of the tap.
On a recent visit to the medieval guildhall in Boston Lincolnshire, I came upon "The Celebrated Boston Water Filter". This stoneware device lacked a tap at the base, but it was obvious that it filtered water for the recipient at a time when piped water either wasn't available or wasn't of the standard that it is today. In other words, the filter had a purpose. The other thing that struck me as I surveyed this water filter was a thought that I often have since my relocation to Lincolnshire not too far from Boston. It is this - when I search for anything to do with this Lincolnshire town I have to be careful because I get lots of hits relevant to Boston Massachusetts, the place that was named after the town near where I live. That problem shouldn't arise here because the filter proudly proclaimed that it was "Improved and Manufactured by Isaac Walker, Boston, England", and I am making that very clear. However, I'm sure that won't stop visitors from the U.S.A. Boston alighting on this page in hope and departing disappointed.
photograph and text © Tony Boughen
Photo Title: "The Celebrated Boston Water Filter", Guildhall, Boston, Lincolnshire
Camera: Olympus E-M10
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 14mm (28mm - 35mm equiv.) crop
F No: f6.3
Shutter Speed: 1/80 sec
ISO:2500
Exposure Compensation: 0 EV
Image Stabilisation: On
