How the Toilet Changed History

How the Toilet Changed History — page 7 — matters worse it was summer and extraordinarily hot and humid in London The heat combined with low water levels and accumulated waste made the smell in London unbearable People were so affected by the stench it made the newspapers The City Press in London wrote NEW YORK CITY In the United States New York City faced a massive influx of immigrants in the 1800s and the city's sanitation system could not keep up with the increased population The collection and disposal of human waste became a major issue for city planners In an attempt to curb the problem city planners passed regulations directing how people disposed of their waste This included directions for building and maintaining privies which were subject to inspection Finally in 1871 a new sewer system for the city was approved Still rich neighborhoods were connected first leaving the poor sections of the city with continued waste problems Gentility of speech is at an end the Thames stinks and whoso once inhales the stink can never forget it and can count himself lucky if he lives to remember it Many people even tried soaking linens and curtains in disinfectant and hanging them in windows to combat the smell But the Great Stink was overpowering It even kept Parliament from meeting because the Thames flowed right by its windows The stench of the River Thames often bothered members of Parliament 12

How the Toilet Changed History — page 8

How the Toilet Changed History — page 9 — LONDON S NEW SEWER SYSTEM When Joseph Bazalgette began the sewer project in London he faced the challenge of building a system underneath the streets of the world's largest city Bazalgette began with meticulous designs laying out not only the plans but also every aspect of the project down to the details of the design of the nuts and bolts to be used He recruited 22 000 laborers to dig the system by hand using picks and shovels In total they removed 3 5 million cubic yards 2 7 million cubic m of soil The tunnels themselves were constructed with bricks and cement rather than factory made pipes Overall the project took 18 years to complete disrupting horse drawn traffic across London and causing some of the world's first traffic jams But the project deemed the greatest civil engineering feat of its time was an enormous success because London's city streets were cleaned up and health improved More important the system designed for 2 5 million people is still in operation serving three times the number of inhabitants Yet as disgusting as it was for Londoners it finally forced the government to take real action The Metropolitan Board of Works in London was at last given the money and the power to address the problem Within a few days the board appointed Joseph Bazalgette as chief engineer He designed and oversaw all aspects of the new sewer system in London His designs included large sewers fed by smaller local sewers which intercepted waste before it reached the Thames The large sewers collected all waste and deposited it into the Thames east of Bazalgette's design for London's first sewer system was an engineering

How the Toilet Changed History — page 10

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