The Great Stink of London 1858
| The Great Stink |
For centuries, one of the most famous rivers in Europe became a dumping ground for all of London's waste. Of course this was the River Thames. As the population of London increased the amount of waste grew with it. This became too much for the river and by the 1600s people began to notice that the pollution of the city’s river was becoming a problem. However every one continued to dump rubbish and waste in the capital's largest river, with no idea how to fix the issue. When the 19th century arrived the problem had been much too long. So much waste had been dumped in the river that the Thames became the most contaminated and unhygienic river in the world!
The horrible smell caused wealthy parts of society to move away from the Thames and for Parliament to move to Oxford. As result of the disgusting conditions of the river and the sewage system in general, water became very contaminated, and there were a sudden outbreaks of a nasty disease called cholera.
| Sir Joseph Bazalgette |
When people began to notice that they had to do something about the awful situation, the British government enlisted the help of Sir Joseph Bazalgette. Bazalgette's idea to create a brand new sewer system helped shape sewerage systems all over the world today. He planned a system that ensured the waste water flowed out of the city, from smaller sewers and into larger pipes. He built a massive network of street sewers, 1,100 miles in total, which fed into the main sewers. The project was the biggest civil engineering endeavour in the world at the time!
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