A story about the not-so-smooth birth of the modern sewage system and what led to it.
Introduction
The majority of the population of Sweden probably don’t think much about how our sewage system works, which is probably the highest praise a sewage system can receive. We go to the toilet, wash our hands and wash our dishes – rarely sparing a thought for what happens next. When we take a walk in the park, we admire the plants and birds, watch the children play and wish good fishing luck to the few who defy the weather gods. I would dare to say that very few of consider how we can escape the big city because of the unbearable stench of untreated waste flowing into our streets, sewers, and waters. But what would have happened if our sewage system suddenly stopped working?
A City Overwhelmed by Stench
The Great Stink hit London in the summer of 1858 and was a period of unbearable stench from the Thames. This was the culmination of decades of disregard for the sewer systems of London. The stench was so strong that those who could fled the city to the countryside, members of parliament and workers alike tried in vain to mitigate the stench with handkerchiefs and rags while they tried to work. It was probably the worst for the poorest, some of whom earned their income from digging in the sludge from the sewer mouths for valuable items that could be sold. It was a time when the course of the disease went from one being healthy in a stinking city one day to being part of the stench in the city the next.
What Led to London’s Crisis?
Several different factors contributed to The Great Stink, but above all it was the rapid doubling of the number of inhabitants in the city. In combination with this, it had also been decided earlier that all new middle-class homes would be given their own brand new water closet. With the existing sewage system being diverted away together with rainwater from the roads, it became overloaded. The dirty water gushed out of the sewers, contaminating the city’s drinking water supplies and filling the Thames – the city’s main lifeblood – with waste. Salmon, once a staple for Londoners, vanished from the Thames, along with all other aquatic life.
By the summer of 1858, the problem had become so large that it was all that was talked about in the media, among ordinary people, and in the city’s leading positions. However, few knew how to deal with the problem. Since London at that time was divided into several smaller “municipalities” with their own governments, local authorities feared losing power and control if they agreed to a large-scale, centralized solution, such as that proposed by Joseph Bazalgette.
The Engineer Who Transformed London
Joseph Bazalgette was a British engineer who began his career in the railway industry, but who entered into a position under Chief Engineer Frank Foster on the Metropolitan Commission of Sewers in 1849 after a period of illness. Foster had been working on a plan to improve the city’s sewage system for some time, for which Bazalgette was given primary responsibility when Foster died in 1852.
In 1856, two years before The Great Stink, Bazalgette had completed the plans for London’s new sewage system. The sewage would henceforth be transported further east, away from the city centre and out into the Thames Estuary. It was an extensive network of sewers with smaller local drains leading to larger pipes and finally ending up in the main sewer that measured over three metres in diameter. To keep everything flowing – from low-lying areas to highlands – a number of different pumping stations were also set up along the way that lifted the sewage where it was needed.
The plan for the expansion of the sewage system was approved by Parliament in that particularly smelly summer of 1858 and began in 1859. When the system was finally completed in 1875, public health had improved considerably. Mortality rates from waterborne diseases such as cholera fell dramatically, and for the first time in decades, the city’s inhabitants experienced cleaner streets and fresher air.
The next time you take a walk along a quiet park stream or let the water run in your sink without a second thought, give a thought to people like Joseph Bazalgette and his successors. They are the people who make sure the invisible heart of the modern city beats properly and frees us from disease and bad smells!
Some facts
What was “The Great Stink”?
In the summer of 1858, the heat intensified the pollution in the Thames, creating an unbearable stench and spreading disease. The odor was so overwhelming that Parliament considered suspending its sessions.
Disease and Mortality
- Before Bazalgette’s sewer system, London endured repeated cholera outbreaks, killing tens of thousands.
- Between 1831 and 1854, cholera claimed over 30,000 lives in the city.
Joseph Bazalgette’s Legacy
- Completed in 1875, London’s new sewer system included over 1,800 km of pipes.
- It was designed with excess capacity to accommodate future population growth and remains the backbone of London’s sewage management today.
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