Not every house in Newhaven had running water even by the 20th Century.  Families relied on drawing  water from the public well or filling up buckets at a standpipe.

A few had a tap fixed onto their building such as is noted at Route Stop 17 (Westmost Close).  Standpipes and cisterns were to be found at New Lane and public wells existed at the top of the Whale Brae and Auchinleck Brae.