Why did Joseph Bazalgette build the sewers?

By 1866 most of London was connected to a sewer network devised by Bazalgette. He saw to it that the flow of foul water from old sewers and underground rivers was intercepted, and diverted along new, low-level sewers, built behind embankments on the riverfront and taken to new treatment works.

How long did it take Joseph Bazalgette to build the sewers?

Over the next 16 years, Bazalgette constructs 82 miles (132km) of main intercepting sewers, 1100 miles of street sewers, four pumping stations and two treatment works.

When did Joseph Bazalgette build the sewers?

Building the Thames Embankment, 1865 By the time Bazalgette died in 1891, there were 5.5 million people living and defecating in inner London, over double the number when he first designed the sewers in the 1850s.

When did Joseph Bazalgette finish the sewers?

Sadly, delays to allow the embankments to also house new Underground lines meant that a final cholera epidemic hit London in 1866. The sewers were completed around 1870, with two extra sewers added about 1910.

What is Bazalgette famous for?

Sir Joseph William Bazalgette was a civil engineer in the 19th century who built London’s first sewer network (still in use today), which helped to wipe out cholera in the capital. He also designed the Albert, Victoria and Chelsea embankments, which housed the sewers, in central London.

What did Bazalgette discover?

sewer network
Sir Joseph William Bazalgette was a civil engineer in the 19th century who built London’s first sewer network (still in use today), which helped to wipe out cholera in the capital. He also designed the Albert, Victoria and Chelsea embankments, which housed the sewers, in central London.

Where does the name Bazalgette come from?

Bazalgette is a surname, originating in the Cévennes region of Southern France. It is believed that there is a single Bazalgette family that comes from the hamlet of La Bazalgette, situated midway between Mende and Ispagnac in the Lozère département.

When did sewers start?

The first sewer systems in the United States were built in the late 1850s in Chicago and Brooklyn. In the United States, the first sewage treatment plant using chemical precipitation was built in Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1890.

What are sewers used for?

The main function of a sanitary sewer system is to protect water quality and public health. A series of underground pipes and manholes, pumping stations, and other appurtenances convey sewage from homes, businesses and industries to wastewater treatment plants where it is cleaned and returned to the environment.

Who built the first sewers?

The Mesopotamians introduced the world to clay sewer pipes around 4000 BCE, with the earliest examples found in the Temple of Bel at Nippur and at Eshnunna, utilised to remove wastewater from sites, and capture rainwater, in wells.

Why might you have heard of Joseph Bazalgette?

Why you might have heard of Joseph Bazalgette. Sir Joseph William Bazalgette was a civil engineer in the 19 th century who built London’s first sewer network (still in use today), which helped to wipe out cholera in the capital. He also designed the Albert, Victoria and Chelsea embankments, which housed the sewers, in central London.

How did Bazalgette change London’s sewer system?

By 1866 most of London was connected to a sewer network devised by Bazalgette. He saw to it that the flow of foul water from old sewers and underground rivers was intercepted, and diverted along new, low-level sewers, built behind embankments on the riverfront and taken to new treatment works.

Who designed London’s sewers?

Joseph Bazalgette, the man who designed London’s sewers in the 1860’s, said ‘Well, we’re only going to do this once and there’s always the unforeseen’ and doubled the pipe diameter. If he had not done this, it would have overflowed in the 1960’s (its still in use today).

Where was Lord Bazalgette born?

Bazalgette was born in Hill Lodge, Clay Hill, Enfield, London, the son of Joseph William Bazalgette (1783–1849), a retired Royal Navy captain, and Theresa Philo, born Pilton (1796–1850), and was the grandson of a French Protestant immigrant who had become wealthy. In 1827 when Jos… Continue Reading (5 minute read)