Karli Pachniak

Plumbing of the Victorians  19th century London, population was growing as well as the city  People had cesspits under homes to collect waste  Cesspits leaked and was emptied into the Thames river

River Thames During the 1800’s people used this water to wash, bathe and drink. Importing and exporting made this water way very busy. Trash, animal remains from slaughter houses and even human bodies were disposed of in the river. In 1855, a letter in The Times newspaper of London, described the polluted River Thames. The writer had been on a recent boating trip. "The whole of the river was an opaque pale brown fluid surely the river which flows for so many miles through London ought not to be allowed to become a fermenting sewer."

Cholera Outbreak 1854  At least 10,000 people died from what was believed to be an air born diseased cause by the foul smell from the river  Cholera causes severe diarrhea and vomiting and bluish colored skin due to dehydration. It is most commonly transmitted by human waste.

The Great Stink 1858  The summer of 1858 was very hot and humid  The curtains in the Houses of Parliament had to be soaked in lime to stop the odors. Parliament shut down  A bill was rushed through Parliament and became a law in 18 days- to provide more money to construct a new sewer system  In 1878 a ship named Princess Alice sunk in a river collision. Most of the 600 passengers who died did not die from drowning, they died because of the pollution in the river.

New Sewer System Joseph Bazalgette the chief engineer to the Metropolitan Board of Works designed the new sewer 1882 It took 5 years to build Bazalgette used brick from the construction of the railway to build the underground tunnels From 1887 to 1998, a fleet of sludge boats made regular trips to clean the sludge from the river Now river Thames is considered one of the most cleanest river

Works Cited /Bazalgette-and-Londons-sewage.html