Water event
The Great Stink
The summer in which the untreated sewage of London, discharged directly to the Thames, became unbearable at Westminster — and Parliament funded a sewer system within eighteen days.
Key facts
- Event type
- Sewage incident
- Started
- 1858-06-01
- Ended
- 1858-08-31
Cause
Two and a half million people discharging raw sewage to a tidal river, combined with an exceptionally hot, dry summer that reduced dilution.
Impact
- The Thames through central London became effectively anaerobic
- Parliamentary business was disrupted; curtains were soaked in lime chloride
Response
Parliament approved Joseph Bazalgette’s intercepting sewer scheme with unusual speed, funding 132 km of main intercepting sewers and over 1,700 km of street sewers.
Aftermath
Bazalgette’s system, deliberately sized at roughly double the calculated requirement, still forms the core of London’s sewerage. Its capacity limits are the reason the Thames Tideway Tunnel was needed a century and a half later.
Relationships
- Located in: England
Related intelligence
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Sources
- Peer-reviewed scientific literature — Open-access hydrology, water chemistry and water use research. Public but restricted · Publisher terms — public access, reuse not clearly granted