The Stench in This City Reached Parliament
The city of London, England, was once plagued by the stench of human waste. The smell even reached the Houses of Parliament. This stench was the catalyst for London to become a cleaner city.
As reported by The Guardian, this event began in the summer of 1858. The stench of human waste from the River Thames permeated everywhere.
The foul odour reached the halls of the British Parliament. The smell caused the politicians sitting in the building to suffer.
Some fled to the countryside, holding handkerchiefs to their noses. This stench prompted the lawmakers to create regulations to clean up London. Previously, there had been outbreaks of diseases such as dysentery and typhoid, caused by the condition of the river. It was the stench that finally spurred the politicians into action.
From this stench, the government then developed a plan to build a modern sewage system. The construction project transformed London into a modern city. The construction of the modern sewage system also improved the health of London’s population.
The Engineer Who Transformed London
This sewage system project was led by an engineering engineer named Joseph Bazalgette. Bazalgette oversaw the construction of this massive sewer. The sewer runs parallel to the river. The sewer will intercept surface water and wastewater, diverting it to outlets at Barking on the north side of the River Thames and Crossness.
This combined drainage channel then diverts rainwater and wastewater downstream, far beyond the densely populated city to the east, from where the water will flow more easily into the sea.
The network includes 82 million new drains, a large underground highway that in some places is larger than the underground railway tunnels being built at the time.
The sewer has a minimum slope of two feet per mile, which helps to drive the flow of wastewater.
Since then, London has no longer smelled bad. London’s infrastructure and sanitation facilities have improved. To this day, London is known as one of the cleanest and most modern cities. It all started with the stench of the river that entered the Houses of Parliament.