5 Revolting Episodes From London’s Great Stink Era
Unveiling the Filthy Truth: 1858 A Turning Point in London’s History
Before the stench of rain and pollution, there was a time when London was known as the Great Stink. This was due to the stench that began erupting from the littering of human and industrial waste in the River Thames, and as the city grew, so did the stink.
In the summer of 1858, the stink got so bad that they dubbed that era ‘The Great Stink’.
1- River Thames became a public dump
So how did it get this bad? In Victorian London, most homes were deprived of flush toilets. Most of the waste was collected and went to compost to be repurposed as fertilizer, but a lot of it also ended up in the streets and the water supply.
In order to reduce this, the flush system was invented, but this system dispersed directly into the Thames. During the summer, the heat caused the waste to ferment, releasing all sorts of odors into the city.
There were many names given to the Thames River at this point, such as Monster Soup and Waste Land. And with the smell came the diseases.
2- Diseases flushed in with the stink
There were many contagious diseases that spread due to the constant littering, including 3 separate outbreaks of cholera.
Cholera is a disease that gets carried through water and ingested. Before this knowledge was revealed, people theorized that the sickness came from the vapors within horrifying smells and it contributed to the addition of the flush system. This theory was called the miasma theory.
However, due to the city’s water supply being contaminated, people caught the diseases that were going around. Dysentery and typhoid also made the list of diseases that occurred from the infested waters.
It was also reported that the time of the Great Stink led to the highest climb in death rate since the Black Plague struck Europe. Nearly 40,000 people died because of Cholera.
The Great Stink did not just affect the adults. Children were barely making it past 5 years of age due to constant exposure to the unsanitary conditions of the city and their already diminishing immune systems.
It took some investigating to realize that areas with higher water usage were riddled with the disease in larger numbers.
3- Not even the rich were safe
The Parliament’s building at the time was located right next to the River Thames, so they were headbutted with the stink first-hand.
They tried multiple methods to make their building habitable, including periodically dousing their curtains in a lime and chloride mixture.
However it was not enough, members constantly had to hold a handkerchief over their mouths and some even ended up fainting. There had been talks about relocating, but the expenses made that venture impossible.
Another method to mask the stench was by pouring the lime and chloride mixture directly into the river. This only worked momentarily and did nothing to rid the air of the already existing stench and diseases.
4- When the delusion of a safe environment was broken
The higher-ups were clearly aware of the problem, but they tried masking the situation rather than finding a solution.
The government finally decided to do something about the stinky river after a scientist conducted a simple experiment to showcase just how horrible the river’s condition had gotten.
Not to mention extensive peer pressure that was being pushed upon the government from news channels, local residents, and the employees of the Parliament House. He grabbed a white piece of paper and threw it in the water to test how far he would be able to see it sink.
According to the scientist it almost immediately disappeared out of view, proving how disgusting and opaque the river had gotten over time. The smell had even affected the royals at the time, as they could no longer go for pleasure rides on the River Thames.
5- Restoration of the River to its Former Glory
It was thanks to the engineer Joseph Bazalgette who created the intricate Victorian sewage tunnels the river started to clear up. He created the tunnels to lead to pumping stations that would separate the gunk from the water.
The river’s flow was also redirected to the city’s center, whereby increasing the flow pressure the river was cleansed of all the impurities that ran within it.
This system ensured that no more of the waste was going to end up in the river Thames and the slow cleansing of the river would restore the purity of the air and water in London. The waste and any rainwater collected were all redirected to the sea.
Moreover, in 1960, further plans were implemented to keep the river safe from litter by removing industrial waste, upkeeping the waste treatment facilities constantly, pumping pure oxygen directly into the water, and even using detergent (environmentally safe and biodegradable course) to keep the water free of daily germs.
The importance of the system
To this day, this Victorian sewer system is the main course of the water filtration process, and the tunnels build for this system are still upright, mazing beneath the surface of London.
Bazalgette was dubbed the hero of London as this invention truly revolutionized and modernized London.
There were further outbreaks of cholera in places that were not yet connected to the sewage system, only further proving how important this system had become in the prevention of disease outbreaks as well.
Want to follow up more from me and other amazing writers on Medium?
Hop on the chance to join: