The study of premodern water management and the development of water supplies is enjoying something of a renaissance, especially in England and Italy. Recent research tends to demonstrate that even small towns were not devoid of rational sanitary provisions, especially when it came to the supply of uncontaminated water, a valuable resource in the Middle Ages. As in most medieval urban communities, water in Montpellier gave rise to multiple sanitary and environmental concerns. The vagaries of the weather frequently caused floods. Intra-muros, sewers were subject to overflows and filled the streets with mud and filth. The city council had to cope with numerous problems related to water, including the provision of a reliable supply of fresh water by means of fountains, and other hydraulic infrastructures, as well as river maintenance, the upkeep of sewers, and the management of wastewater and water pollution. Using Montpellier's rich medieval archives, this chapter will examine the various means by which the council attempted to police the urban environment in order to cope with health risks caused by water-related issues.

Montpellier stands on a group of hills which constitute a link between the low ridge of the Cevennes Mountains and the coastline, being furnished with a number of ponds. These three sand hills provided a suitable site for the establishment of a human settlement.