The Great Stink forced London authorities to commission a modern sewer network that ended cholera outbreaks and shaped urban sanitation engineering.
Key Facts
- Duration
- July–August 1858
- Lead engineer
- Joseph Bazalgette
- Sewer construction period
- 1859–1875
- Ornate pumping stations built
- Abbey Mills (Stratford) and Crossness (Erith Marshes)
- City population served (21st c.)
- Over 9 million people
- Embankments introduced
- Victoria, Chelsea and Albert Embankments
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
London's ageing and inadequate sewer system discharged untreated human waste and industrial effluent directly into the Thames. Years of mounting pollution, combined with three prior cholera outbreaks attributed to miasma from the river, created a worsening public health crisis that the summer heat of 1858 brought to a critical point.
During July and August 1858, unusually hot weather intensified the stench of untreated sewage on the banks of the River Thames in central London. The resulting 'Great Stink' alarmed the public and parliament alike, compelling national and local authorities to move decisively on proposals that had long been under consideration.
Authorities accepted civil engineer Joseph Bazalgette's plan to redirect sewage eastward through interconnected sewer networks to outfalls beyond the metropolitan area. Construction ran from 1859 to 1875, introducing major embankments and pumping stations. The system ended cholera outbreaks and continued operating into the 21st century, serving a city of over nine million people.