How did a lack of scientific knowledge affect human health in 19th-century England? How did the construction of London's sewer system change people's understanding of how disease can spread?

Supplying clean drinking water was another serious problem. Some of London’s water came from shallow wells within the city and was delivered by the bucketful. More prosperous areas had piped water provided by private water companies from springs in the hills around London or, most dangerously, from the Thames itself.

The invention of the flush toilet or water closet at the end of the eighteenth century made things worse. Well-off households that could afford a proper water supply could now dispense with a smelly cesspool and simply flush all their waste away – and out into the Thames.

The first two weeks of June 1858 were exceptionally hot. That weather led to desperate politicians voting a bill for a complete new sewage system for London through both Houses of Parliament in only 18 days. By 2 August they had approved an Act of Parliament for the expenditure of £2.5 million (about £300 million in today’s money) – and it was to be publicly financed.

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