[October 18, 2025] Sometimes you face a problem that seems impossible to solve. That is what happened to Railway Engineer Joseph Bazalgette. In the early 1800s, London was plagued by a disgusting and overwhelming issue. Human waste was everywhere: on the streets, leaking into basements, cesspits seeping through walls in people’s homes, and neighbors arguing over whose waste was going where. Bazalgette became the engineer credited with saving London.
It is worth mentioning that the early 1800s were a time of cholera outbreaks, an acute diarrheal infection caused by bacteria, typically spread through contaminated water or food. And, it could kill you. Thousands died.
Joseph Bazalgetter, a relatively unknown engineer even today, contributed more to London’s health than this man. But before he was assigned to the task, London’s problems had to worsen significantly. The Poo Crisis of 1858, or The Great Stink, resulted from the streets being so filthy that the government passed a law requiring all sewage to be washed into the Thames River.
The government’s solution obviously failed. With the river filled with human and animal feces, the outcome was predictable. The smell was awful. A stroke of good luck was about to occur. The new Houses of Parliament had just been constructed on the banks of the River Thames. And it did reek. This was a time when most people believed that diseases spread through smells.
Cholera outbreaks became frequent. The government members of parliament, who had done little to address the issue, panicked. They believed they were personally in danger and responded very quickly. In 18 days, the Thames Water Purification Bill was conceived, debated, and passed into law.
This is when Engineer Joseph Bazalgette, a man with a big moustache, was assigned the task of cleaning up London. Like many major problems, nobody had faced this issue before, so what could be done? His solution was to build over a thousand miles of sewers, connecting them all to carry away all the sewage. And he wanted it to be powered by gravity. This meant the pipes had to be laid at a specific slope to ensure the sewage would flow away.
Every stage of the project presented a new technical challenge. Some areas could not meet the slope requirements. Pump stations were designed to lift the sewage as high as 40 feet and then let it flow downhill. Where there was not enough space to dig, he created new land (now called embankments) where sewer pipes, pumping stations, gas pipes, and railway lines were located.
After sixteen years, London had a sewage system fit for a modern city. The project virtually eliminated cholera from London. Proof of the effectiveness of Bazalgette’s plan came in 1866, when London’s last cholera outbreak was confined to the area not yet connected to the new system.
The Thames no longer smells like human waste, and “poo” is no longer a common sight on London streets. Today, London still depends on a system, much of which was built 150 years ago. All of this was developed by the remarkable Sir Joseph Bazalgette.
NOTE: Thanks to @gilesmcmullen on YouTube for inspiring this post
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Nice! Could have been shittier.
“Every stage of the project presented a new technical challenge. Some areas could not meet the slope requirements. Pump stations were designed to lift the sewage as high as 40 feet and then let it flow downhill. Where there was not enough space to dig, he created new land (now called embankments) where sewer pipes, pumping stations, gas pipes, and railway lines were located.” – Gen. Doug Satterfield and making it sound like his book “Our Longest Year in Iraq.” Go figure. Wait …. The WOman from EHT said that too.
When you need an engineer, one steps up.
Frank, not always but in this case he did. FYI, there is even a book on it.
The Great Stink Paperback – February 15, 2001
https://www.amazon.com/Great-Stink-London-Bazalgette-Metropolis/dp/0750925809/
In the sweltering summer of 1858 the stink of sewage from the polluted Thames was so offensive that it drove Members of Parliament from the chamber of the House of Commons. Sewage generated by a population of over two million Londoners was pouring into the river and was being carried to and fro by the tides. The Times called the crisis “The Great Stink”.
And we thought we had it bad sometimes with the stink that comes from a septic in our neighbor’s backyard.
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This story reminds me of the stories you told us, sir, in your book “Our Longest year in Iraq.” The impossible tasks that you got and, of course, in a combat zone too. I looked up this guy and what amazes me, is that I never heard of him.