The
London sewerage system is part of the water infrastructure serving
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
. The modern system was developed during the late 19th century, but as London has grown the system has been expanded and needs further investment.
History
During the early 19th century the
River ThamesThe River Thames is a major river flowing through southern England. While best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows through several other towns and cities, including Oxford, Reading and Windsor....
was practically an open sewer, with disastrous consequences for public health in
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
, including numerous
choleraCholera, sometimes known as Asiatic or epidemic cholera, is an infectious gastroenteritis caused by enterotoxin-producing strains of the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. Transmission to humans occurs through eating food or drinking water contaminated with Vibrio cholerae from other cholera patients...
epidemics. These were caused by enterotoxin-producing strains of the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. Proposals to modernise the sewerage system had been made during 1856, but were neglected due to lack of funds. However, after
The Great StinkThe Great Stink or The Big Stink was a time in the summer of 1858 during which the smell of untreated sewage was very strong in central London, England.-Water supply and sanitation prior to the Great Stink:...
of 1858,
ParliamentThe Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom and British overseas territories. It alone has parliamentary sovereignty, conferring upon it ultimate power over all other political bodies in the UK and its territories...
realised the urgency of the problem and resolved to create a modern sewerage system.
Joseph BazalgetteSir Joseph William Bazalgette, CB was one of the great English civil engineers of the 19th century. As the chief engineer of London's Metropolitan Board of Works, his major achievement was the creation of a sewer network for central London, which helped relieve the city from cholera epidemics,...
, a
civil engineerA civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering, one of the many professions of engineering. Originally a civil engineer worked on public works projects and was contrasted with the military engineer, who worked on armaments and defenses...
and Chief Engineer of the
Metropolitan Board of WorksThe Metropolitan Board of Works was the principal instrument of London-wide government from 1855 until the establishment of the London County Council in 1889. Its principal responsibility was to provide infrastructure to cope with London's rapid growth, which it successfully accomplished. The MBW...
, was given responsibility for the work. He designed an extensive underground sewerage system that diverted waste to the
Thames EstuaryThe Thames Estuary is the estuary in which the River Thames meets the waters of the North Sea.It is not easy to define the limits of the estuary, although physically the head of Sea Reach, near Canvey Island on the Essex shore is probably the western boundary...
, downstream of the main centre of population. Six main interceptory sewers, totalling almost 100 miles (160 km) in length, were constructed, some incorporating stretches of
London's 'lost' riversThe subterranean or underground rivers of London are the tributaries of the River Thames and River Lea that were built over during the growth of the metropolis of London...
. Three of these sewers were north of the river, the southernmost, low-level one being incorporated in the
Thames EmbankmentThe Thames Embankment is a major feat of 19th century civil engineering designed to reclaim marshy land next to the River Thames in central London. It consists of the Victoria and Chelsea Embankment....
. The Embankment also allowed new roads to reduce traffic congestion, new public gardens, and the Circle Line of the
London UndergroundThe London Underground, Underground or Tube is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and neighbouring areas of Essex, Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire in the UK. The first section opened in 1863, and was the first underground railway system in the world, and, starting in...
.
The intercepting sewers, constructed between 1859 and 1865, were fed by 450 miles (720 km) of main sewers that, in turn, conveyed the contents of some 13,000 miles (21,000 km) of smaller local sewers. Construction of the interceptor system required 318 million bricks, 2.7 million cubic metres of excavated earth and 670,000 cubic metres of
concreteConcrete is a construction material composed of cement as well as other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water, and chemical admixtures...
.
Gravity allows the sewage to flow eastwards, but in places such as
ChelseaChelsea is an area of south-west London, England, bounded to the south by the River Thames, where its frontage runs from Chelsea Bridge along the Chelsea Embankment, Cheyne Walk, Lots Road and Chelsea Harbour. Its eastern boundary was once defined by the River Westbourne, which is now in a pipe...
,
DeptfordDeptford is an area on the south bank of the River Thames in south-east London. The area is named after a ford of the River Ravensbourne, and from the mid 16th century to the late 19th was home to Deptford Dockyard, the first of the Royal Dockyards. This was a major shipbuilding dock and attracted...
and
Abbey MillsThe original Abbey Mills Pumping Station, in Abbey Lane, London E15, is a sewerage pumping station, designed by engineer Joseph Bazalgette, Edmund Cooper, and architect Charles Driver. It was built between 1865 and 1868. It was designed in a cruciform plan, with an elaborate Byzantine style,...
, pumping stations were built to raise the water and provide sufficient flow. Sewers north of the Thames feed into the
Northern Outfall SewerThe Northern Outfall Sewer is a major gravity sewer which runs from Wick Lane in Hackney to Beckton Sewage Works in east London ; most of it was designed by Joseph Bazalgette after an outbreak of cholera in 1853 and "The Big Stink" of 1858.Prior to this work, central London's drains were built...
, which feeds into a major treatment works at
BecktonBeckton is also the code name for a forthcoming Xeon processor.Beckton is a place in the London Borough of Newham, England, located east of Charing Cross....
. South of the river, the
Southern Outfall SewerThe Southern Outfall Sewer is a major sewer taking sewage from the southern area of central London to Crossness in south-east London. Flows from three interceptory sewers combine at Deptford and then run under Greenwich, Woolwich, Plumstead and across Erith marshes...
extends to a similar facility at
CrossnessCrossness is a place in south-east London. It is situated in the London Borough of Bexley, close to the southern bank of the River Thames, to the east of Thamesmead, and north-west of Erith....
.
During the 20th century, major improvements were made to the sewerage system and to the
sewage treatmentSewage treatment, or domestic wastewater treatment, is the process of removing contaminants from wastewater and household sewage, both runoff and domestic. It includes physical, chemical, and biological processes to remove physical, chemical and biological contaminants...
provision to substantially reduce pollution of the Thames Estuary and the
North SeaThe North Sea is a marginal, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf. The Dover Strait and the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Sea in the north connect it to the Atlantic Ocean. It is more than long and wide, with an area of around...
.
Modern development needs
Victorian pipes now comprise less than 1% of the total sewerage network in London.
The original system was designed to cope with as much as 6.5 mm (1/4”) of rainfall within the catchment area, and supported a smaller population than today’s. London's growth has therefore put pressure on the capacity of the sewerage system. During storms, for example, high levels of rainfall (in excess of 6 mm) in a short period of time can overwhelm the system. Sewers and treatment works are unable to cope with the large volumes of rainwater entering the system. Rainwater mixes with sewage in combined sewers and excess mixed water is discharged into the Thames. If this does not happen quickly enough, localised flooding occurs (surcharge). Such
sanitary sewer overflowSanitary sewer overflow is a condition whereby untreated sewage is discharged into the environment prior to reaching treatment facilities thereby escaping wastewater treatment. When caused by rainfall it is also known as wet weather overflow. It is primarily meaningful in developed countries,...
can mean streets becoming flooded with a mixture of water and sewage, causing a health risk.
In redeveloping the
Isle of DogsThe Isle of Dogs is a former island in the East End of London that is bounded on three sides by one of the largest meanders in the River Thames. To the north are the West India Docks, and the only road access to the island is across the two bridges that cross the eastern and western entrances to...
and
Royal DocksThe Royal Docks comprise three docks in east London - the Royal Albert Dock, the Royal Victoria Dock and the King George V Dock. They are more correctly called the Royal Group of Docks to distinguish them from the Royal Dockyards, Royal being due to their naming after royal personages rather than...
areas of east London during the late 1980s and early 1990s, the
London Docklands Development CorporationThe London Docklands Development Corporation was a quango agency set up by the UK Government in 1981 to regenerate the depressed Docklands area of east London. During its eighteen-year existence it was responsible for regenerating an area of 8.5 square miles in the London Boroughs of ...
invested in major new drainage infrastructure to manage future sewage and surface water run-off from proposed developments. Consulting engineer
Sir William Halcrow & PartnersHalcrow Group Limited is an engineering consultancy company, based in the United Kingdom.- History :The company was founded in 1868 by civil engineer Thomas Meik, and originally bore his name, and later those of his sons, Patrick and Charles...
designed a system of large diameter tunnels served by new pumping stations. In the Royal Docks, approximately 16 miles (25 km) of foul and surface water drains were built, plus pumping stations at Tidal Basin (designed by
Richard RogersRichard George Rogers, Baron Rogers of Riverside, CH, FRIBA, FCSD, is a British architect noted for his modernist and functionalist designs...
Partnership) and
North WoolwichNorth Woolwich is a place in the London Borough of Newham. It is located north of Woolwich proper which is on the south bank of the River Thames. The two places are linked by the Woolwich Ferry and the Woolwich foot tunnel.-History:...
(architect:
Nicholas GrimshawSir Nicholas Grimshaw, CBE is a prominent English architect, particularly noted for several modernist buildings, including London's Waterloo International railway station and the Eden Project in Cornwall...
). The Isle of Dogs drainage network is served by a stormwater pumping station situated in Stewart Street, designed by John Outram Associates.
Increasing the carrying capacity of London’s sewerage system has been debated for some years. Proposals for the '
Thames TidewayThe Thames Tideway Scheme is an infrastructure project intended to improve the capacity of London’s sewerage system and prevent sewage overflows into the River Thames on the Tideway where flows through London....
' include a wide diameter storage-and-transfer tunnel (internal diameters of 7.2 m and 9 m have been suggested), 22 miles (35 km) long, underneath the riverbed of the Thames between
HammersmithHammersmith is an urban centre in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in west London approximately 5 miles west of Charing Cross on the north bank of the River Thames...
in the west and
BecktonBeckton is also the code name for a forthcoming Xeon processor.Beckton is a place in the London Borough of Newham, England, located east of Charing Cross....
/
CrossnessCrossness is a place in south-east London. It is situated in the London Borough of Bexley, close to the southern bank of the River Thames, to the east of Thamesmead, and north-west of Erith....
in the east, but as the cost of such a
megaprojectA megaproject is an extremely large-scale investment project. Megaprojects are typically defined as costing more than US$1 billion and attracting a lot of public attention because of substantial impacts on communities, environment, and budgets...
is likely to be substantial (estimated at £1.7 billion in 2004), investment decisions have been slow to be forthcoming. In March 2007 the
Mayor of LondonThe Mayor of London is an elected politician who, along with the London Assembly of 25 members, is accountable for the strategic government of Greater London . Since 4 May 2008, Conservative Boris Johnson holds the position...
announced that the project will proceed with completion expected by 2020.
Because design and construction of such a tunnel will take an estimated 15 years, a shorter-term (and slightly lower cost) interim solution has also been developed. This £1.6 billion scheme (2006 prices) involves two shorter tunnels (one taking storm water from Hammersmith to
BatterseaBattersea is a place in the London Borough of Wandsworth. It is an inner-city district located 2.9 miles south west of Charing Cross. It has a population of 75,651 people .-Geography:...
for treatment or storage, the other carrying water from Abbey Mills south to the river at Beckton) and improvements to associated treatment facilities.
Literary or media references
- The system plays a large part in English writer Neil Gaiman
Neil Richard Gaiman is an English author of science fiction and fantasy short stories and novels, graphic novels, comics, audio theatre, and films. His notable works include The Sandman comic series, Stardust, American Gods, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book...
's 1996 novel NeverwhereNeverwhere is an urban fantasy television series by Neil Gaiman that first aired in 1996 on BBC Two. The series is set in "London Below", a magical realm coexisting with the more familiar London, referred to as "London Above". It was devised by Neil Gaiman and Lenny Henry, and directed by Dewi...
.
- The system plays a part in English writer Michael Robotham's 2005 novel Lost.
- It also featured as one of the Seven Wonders of the Industrial World
Seven Wonders of the Industrial World is a BBC docudrama television series that examines seven great feats of engineering that occurred during the Industrial Revolution.-Production:...
in the BBC television series of the same name.
- Eleanor Updale
Eleanor Updale is the author of the Montmorency Series. She has written four novels and some short stories, and has won several awards for her writing.-Biography:...
's MontmorencyThe Montmorency Series is a Victorian era crime genre focused on an ex-convict turned spy named Montmorency. The first novel in the series was released on April 1, 2004. The fourth and latest book was released in March 2007...
(Beginning with Montmorency: Liar Thief Gentleman?) novels are set against the backdrop of construction of the London sewerage system.
- The London sewerage system is also featured in Guitar Hero: Smash Hits as one of the venues.
External links