This case is between a between two mill owners. The defendant John Rylands asked contractors to build a reservoir on his land. The independent contractors built the reservoir and the defendant maintained the reservoir.
After a while the reservoir started to leak and water escaped. The water from the leak made its way in to the claimants property and caused damage. The leak was caused by an unknown coal mine that was under the reservoir that had left voids in the earth. This mine was unknown to the defendant and had been overlooked by the contractors.
Rylands v Fletcher Case Outcome
Rylands was found to be liable.