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water taps

By the end of the nineteenth century Wales had undergone a major transformation. The sanitary movement and public health reforms moderated the worst effects of rapid industrialisation on health. Wales was beginning to develop a modern scientific approach to disease detection and control. It also established new institutions, training and research in the field of health. By the 1920s, for those in work living standards slowly improved. New houses were built, electricity and gas supplies installed, and kitchens and bathrooms with hot and cold running water made life, for some, much easier. Death rates declined and infant mortality overall improved.