History of The London Sewers
The River Thames prior to the 20th century was an open sewer. This caused several safety and smell issues for the locals, including the great stink of 1858 during which the Summer heat met the untreated human waste stench. This made local authorities finally realise the severity of the smell, and fear its possible effects, thankfully prompting them to take action.
Civil engineer and Chief Engineer of the Metropolitan Board of Works, Joseph Bazalgette was given responsibility for the work. He along with his colleagues subsequently designed an extensive underground sewerage system that diverted waste to the Thames Estuary, downstream of the main centre of population.
The system they built worked much more efficiently, in fact during the 20th century, even greater major improvements were made to the sewerage system and to the sewage treatment provision to significantly reduce pollution of the Thames Estuary and the North Sea, making it an even more efficient system.