Readers are introduced to the Tea Water Pump in chapter 5. Isabel is told to go there to get water for the Locktons, but she does not know what it is or where it is located. Curzon volunteers to take her there and explains in chapter 6 that the Tea Water Pump is where all of the rich white people get their water from, because it supposedly tastes better. This automatically makes the Tea Water Pump and associated water symbolic of a societal class divide and symbolic of a wealth divide. The rich people get water from this pump; however, it is the slaves that are the actual people drawing water from this particular pump. Consequently, the Tea Water Pump is an important gathering place for oppressed slaves. They get to talk among themselves about issues pertaining to their struggles. The Tea Water Pump is also the spot to discuss the war and politics, so it is also symbolic of the revolution and the role that slaves can and do play in the American Revolution. Madam Lockton knows this. She is a smart woman, and she knows that the Tea Water Pump's location gives Isabel and other slaves access to an very politically charged area of the city. This is why Madam Lockton instructs Sarah in chapter 39 to not let Isabel go to "that blasted water pump."