The History of London's Sewer System

THE HISTORY OF LONDON'S SEWER SYSTEM Before London's sewer system was built, sewage flowed directly into the river Thames, which was also used as a source of drinking water. Yum! 10,000 Londoners died of cholera in 1853 because of this. 1858 was the year of the "Great Stink', forcing the government to take drastic action. JOSEPH BAZALGETTE was the great engineer hired to do the job. WORK BEGAN WORK ENDED 1859 1868 The sewer system stretched for almost 2,000 MILES It cost £4.2 MILLION to build. 318 MILLION BRICKS 2.5 MILLION M3 OF SOIL were used. was dug up. HYDRO CLEANSING hydro-cleansing.com Source : http://www.bbc.co.uk/england/sevenwonders/london/sewers_mm/index.shtml