The Summer That Inspired Modern Sanitary Systems – London’s ‘Great Stink’ of 1858

By Visio Roughton

London is rich in history, having existed from the bronze age until today. Thus, such a city has had its fair share of urban disasters; fires, blizzards, floods, and plagues. In the summer of 1858 however, one of London’s greatest crises would take hold of the city. The River Thames, a force of nature that the city had grown around, had suffered from the sudden population growth. Though it had become a powerhouse in terms of economy and population, London’s failing sewage system would create the perfect conditions for an incident that would bring life in the city to a halt. The event, now known as the Great Stink, was a heavy stench that hung over the city for weeks— not only was it a turning point in the history of urban infrastructure, but it also reflected the power of rapid action in the British government.

Mid-1800s London and its Sewage System

By the 1850s London’s population had grown to around 2.3 million, making it the largest and most populace city in the world. The Industrial Revolution played an integral role in the growth and transformation of the city, helping it to become a flourishing focal point of the British Empire’s economy. Despite this boom in economic power, there were still many aspects of London’s infrastructure that were lacking in the ability to support the vast population. One such system was the city’s sewage and sanitation system. At this time, many homes still lacked flush toilets, and would rather have their waste transported away by “Night Soil Men”, or dumped into the city streets. Further sewage was still flushed away into London’s outdated sewer systems, which streamlined the waste away from the city and dumped it into the River Thames. Outbreaks of Cholera in the decades leading up to the summer of 1858 had not slowed this practice, as by this point, it was still widely believed that the putrid air was the cause of the illness (this belief is known as the miasma theory, a concept that was rooted in medieval science.) Since the Thames was also the main source of drinking water for a majority of the city, this created a breeding ground for disease. 

As London’s population continued to grow, so did the amount of waste being dumped into the river. Many people, including influential government officials, still adhered to the miasma theory, and it is the persistence of this belief that played a crucial role in shaping how the Great Stink not only came about but how it was also handled.

A Heatwave Hits London

There would be occasions when the Thames would reek especially with the stench of sewage, however, these instances would dissipate quickly, and it was not until the summer of 1858 when an unusually strong and prolonged heatwave hit London, did the true problems of London’s struggling sewage system present itself. The heatwave sent temperatures skyrocketing, worsening the typical stench of the Thames, and leaving it nothing more than a river of putrid waste. The accumulation of sewage, dead animals, and industrial waste that had gathered in the Thames and on its banks over the past years all began to essentially ferment in the hot sun. This led to a vile stench that almost no one in the city could avoid. 

Even proceedings in The Houses of Parliament, which had recently been relocated to a place right alongside the Thames, were affected by the smell. Attempts were made to mask the pungence of the river, —specifically by soaking the curtains of the buildings in in chloride of lime— but the stench was so overpowering that this was a fruitless attempt, and governmental sessions were ultimately cut short. 

The crisis along the Thames had exposed the full extent of London’s sanitation problem, and many politicians demanded immediate action to find a solution. 

It had become clear that the filth in the Thames was more than just an attack on the senses— it was also a serious public health risk. Even after many cholera outbreaks, the most recent of which had claimed the lives of over 10,000 people, the government largely ignored the state of the Thames until it reached the point of contamination it had during the Great Stink. The incident made it impossible to ignore the state of the Thames any longer; notably, those in lower economic classes had been suffering from this crisis longer than those in the higher class, however, this incident was such a large-scale occurrence that elites and governmental officials were directly affected, and this inspired many more to take immediate action.

A Rapid Solution and Response

The British government, typically notorious for slow responses on social issues, responded with an intense urgency in an effort to tackle the Great Stink. Within weeks, of the stench’s onset, Parliament managed to pass the Metropolis Local Management Amendment Act, a law that would allow the local government the ability to emergency funds that could be used for an ambitious new sewer system. The speed at which Parliament approved and funded the plan for the new sanitation system was remarkable for the time, especially when considering the typical speed they had when reacting to local issues. 

Joseph Bazalgette, a civil engineer who had long advocated for an overhaul of the city’s sewage and sanitation practices, was put in charge of the project to build the new sewage system. His plan was both practical and revolutionary; over 1,100 miles of underground sewers would be built to connect to 82 miles of main sewage pipes. This would also include a system that would carry the sewage of the city out to sea with the changing tides, rather than into the Thames. 

The actual construction of the new sewer system did not begin in 1859, and it would take almost two decades before it was fully completed. Despite this, immediate improvements were noticed throughout the city as the new system was implemented bit by bit. The new sewers dramatically reduced waterborne diseases, and the prevalence of cholera outbreaks declined significantly. Despite the fact the scientific world had not yet fully established germ theory to influence the lifestyle of Londoners at the time, Bazalgette’s design had inadvertently helped eliminate cholera and other waterborne diseases by lessening the contamination of drinking water. 

Bazalgette’s sewer design also inspired the plans for modern urban sanitation systems around the world. 

Lessons from The Great Stink

Although The Great Stink is often remembered as a driving force to the quick action of politicians, it also reflected the importance of urban planning and public health. It also demonstrated how public outcry with the added force from the upper class class could lead to rapid governmental action, something that was especially rare in Victorian Britain. It also illustrated the importance of scientifically informed solutions when addressing public health crises, even when prevailing beliefs—such as the miasma theory—stood in the way of true understanding.

The lessons that can be learned from this incident are not only applicable to the past however, as many parts of the world today still struggle with inadequate sanitation, with millions of people lacking access to clean water. Climate change and urbanization as well, continue to place immense stress on water management systems, and the rise of industrial pollution in rivers across the world in many other countries even mirrors the conditions that led to the crisis in London in the summer of 1858.