suppressed in 1538, and its rights passed to the Brabazon family, later Earls of Meath. The Brabazons had their own reservoir, the Liberty Basin, built in 1820 at Pim Street; it was built over in Victorian times. The Meath rights over the "main Poddle" line, renamed from the Abbey Mill Stream to the Earl of Meath's Watercourse, and water supply in the Liberties of Dublin, were bought out by Dublin Corporation in 1864, for 6,400 pounds. As the city grew, supplies were insufficient to allow constant flow to all properties, and it had to be rationed, with special city employees called turncocks engaged to open and close valves to different streets in turn, ringing handbells to advise residents when this was occurring. The city water started to be sourced in other ways from 1745, when an early Waterworks Engineer, James Scanlon, set up a water wheel to draw from the Liffey above the tidal reaches, at Islandbridge, to supply northern Dublin. In 1775, water was diverted from the Grand Canal to supply the city, and in 1790, the Royal Canal was drawn into municipal supply for northern Dublin, in place of the Islandbridge supply. Pollution and the end of the Dodder link Even when no potable water was required from the Poddle, the city authorities were obliged to maintain a certain flow in the river for the benefit of industrial users such as mills and breweries, and a last modernisation of the Balrothery weir and sluice arrangements was made in the early 19th century. With no need to worry about contamination of drinking water, pollution increased notably, and Whitelaw and Walsh commented that the Poddle "formed an immense sewer ... putrefying the streets under which it passes..." while William Handcock said that it was "so polluted by paper-making that it has become poisonous, and cattle and horses have died from drinking it." On at least one occasion the millers on the Liberties street known as Pimlico did seek permission to clean the river at their own expense. The Dodder-Poddle connection was disturbed by housing developments from the 1970s, and was allowed to dry out in the late 20th century; only a tiny part still carries water, though ample evidence of the watercourse can be seen: the sluices and channel on the north side of the Great Weir still stand. There was discussion about a partial restoration for historical interest but