If you’ve never believed that our UK sewer system was interesting, think again! The British sewer system was long a model of industrialised advancement in the world, and Victorian sewers are still renowned today for being incredibly well-built. So what should we know about our underground pipe system?
The struggle with raw waste
Until Tudor times, the UK really struggled with disease and hygiene, thanks in part to a complete lack of sanitation, particularly in London, where raw sewage was thrown onto the streets. In the Tudor times, however, trade exploded and big cities began to overcrowd. This meant more jobs and money, but also more waste which began to flood the streets. Sir John Harrington invented the first flushing toilet as an alternative to chamber pots, but the waste products simply flowed into nearby rivers, helping to spread the plague and cholera.
Modern sewer inventions
The modern flushing toilet was first invented in the 1590s and slowly became the norm in London, although it flushed into the Thames until the 1800s when the Thames became clogged with foul-smelling effluent. The enterprising Victorians built a vast interconnecting sewer system at a low level, called the Bazalgette design, which flushed all waste to a treatment facility by the Thames. This model then became used across the UK.
Today, of course, we have modern systems made of plastic and advanced services such as drain lining Gloucester offered by companies such as www.wilkinson-env.co.uk/sewer-repairs-drain-lining-concrete-cutting/drain-repairs/gloucester/.
British sewers have come a long way, but still need to be regularly checked and repaired, especially after storms or soil erosion. They also still struggle with the problems of population growth and climate change, heralding a new era of challenges to be faced and overcome for town and country infrastructure planners in the coming years.