The new Abbey Mills Pumping Station

The original Abbey Mills pumping station

The London sewerage system is part of the water infrastructure serving London. The modern roots of the system were first developed during the late 19th century, but as London has grown the system has been expanded and needs further investment. Image File history File linksMetadata New_abbey_mills_pumping_station. ... Image File history File linksMetadata New_abbey_mills_pumping_station. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2592x1944, 2854 KB) The victorian Abbey Mill pumping station on the London trunk sewerage system - now disused File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): London sewerage system Metadata... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2592x1944, 2854 KB) The victorian Abbey Mill pumping station on the London trunk sewerage system - now disused File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): London sewerage system Metadata... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ...

History

In the early 19th century the River Thames was practically an open sewer, with disastrous consequences for public health in London, including numerous cholera epidemics. Proposals to modernise the sewerage system had been put forward in 1856, but were shelved due to lack of funds. However, after The Great Stink of 1858, Parliament realised the urgency of the problem and resolved to create a modern sewerage system. The Thames (pronounced []) is a river flowing through southern England, in its lower reaches flowing through London into the sea. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Cholera is a water-borne disease caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae, which is typically ingested by drinking contaminated water, or by eating improperly cooked fish, especially shellfish. ... 1856 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... The Great Stink or The Big Stink was a time in the summer of 1858 during which the smell of untreated sewage almost overwhelmed people in central London, England. ... 1858 (MDCCCLVIII) is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... States currently utilizing parliamentary systems are denoted in red and orange—the former being constitutional monarchies where authority is vested in a parliament, and the latter being parliamentary republics whose parliaments are effectively supreme over a separate head of state. ...

Joseph Bazalgette, a civil engineer and Chief Engineer of the Metropolitan Board of Works, was given responsibility for the work. He designed an extensive underground sewerage system that diverted waste to the Thames Estuary, 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' rivers. Three of these sewers were north of the river, the southernmost, low-level one being incorporated in the Thames Embankment. The Embankment also allowed new roads to reduce traffic congestion, new public gardens, and the Circle Line of the London Underground. Memorial to Sir Joseph Bazalgette on Victoria Embankment Sir Joseph William Bazalgette (28 March 1819 – 15 March 1891) was one of the great Victorian civil engineers. ... The term civil engineer refers to an individual who practices civil engineering. ... The Metropolitan Board of Works (MBW) was the principal instrument of London-wide government from 1855 until the establishment of the London County Council in 1889. ... The Thames Estuary is a large estuary where the River Thames flows into the North Sea. ... The 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. ... Victoria Embankment, London The Victoria Embankment, previously the Thames Embankment is a road and walkway along the north bank of the River Thames in London in the cities of Westminster and London. ... The Circle Line of the London Underground became known as such in 1949, when it was separated from its parent lines, the Metropolitan Line and the District Line, although it had been shown on Underground maps since 1947. ... The London Underground is an all electric railway system that covers much of the conurbation of Greater London and some neighbouring areas. ...

The interceptory 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 interceptory system required 318 million bricks, 880,000 cubic yards (670,000 m³) of concrete and mortar, and excavation of over 3.5 million tonnes of earth. 1859 (MDCCCLIX) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar). ... 1865 (MDCCCLXV) is a common year starting on Sunday. ... Concrete being poured, raked and vibrated into place in residential construction in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. ... Mortar holding weathered bricks. ...

Gravity allows the sewage to flow eastwards, but in places (such as Chelsea, Deptford and Abbey Mills, pumping stations were built to raise the water and provide sufficient flow. Sewers north of the Thames feed into the Northern Outfall Sewer, which feeds into a major treatment works at Beckton. South of the river, the Southern Outfall Sewer extends to a similar facility at Crossness. Gravity is a force of attraction that acts between bodies that have mass. ... Statue of Thomas More on Cheyne Walk. ... Deptford is an area of the London Borough of Lewisham, on the south bank of the River Thames in south-east London. ... The old Abbey Mills Pumping Station The original Abbey Mills Pumping Station, in Abbey Lane, London E15, is a sewerage pumping station designed by Joseph Bazalgette and Edmund Cooper and was built between 1865 and 1868. ... The Northern Outfall Sewer was designed by Joseph Bazalgette after an outbreak of cholera in 1853 and The Big Stink. ... Beckton is a place in the London Borough of Newham, located 8 miles (12. ... The Southern Outfall Sewer was designed by Joseph Bazalgette after an outbreak of cholera in 1853 and The Big Stink. ... Crossness is a place in south-east London. ...

In the 20th century, major improvements were made to the sewerage system to reduce pollution of the Thames Estuary and the North Sea. (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999... The North Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean, located between the coasts of Norway and Denmark in the east, the coast of the British Isles in the west, and the German, Dutch, Belgian and French coasts in the south. ...

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 up to 6.5mm (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 6mm) 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 overflow can mean streets becoming flooded with a mixture of water and sewage, causing a health risk. Decentralized wet weather overflow event Sanitary sewer overflow (SSO} is a condition whereby untreated sewage is discharged into the environment, escaping wastewater treatment. ...

Increasing the carrying capacity of London’s sewerage system has been debated for some years. Proposals for the 'Thames Tideway' include a wide diameter storage-and-transfer tunnel (internal diameters of 7.2m and 9m have been suggested), 22 miles (35km) long, underneath the riverbed of the Thames between Hammersmith in the west and Beckton/Crossness in the east,^[1][2] but as the cost of such a megaproject is likely to be substantial (estimated at £1.7 billion in 2004), no firm investment decisions have yet been made. Thames Tideway Scheme is being built to deal with storm overflows in London, UK. External links OFWAT Categories: UK buildings and structures stubs | London infrastructure ... Hammersmith is an urban centre in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in London, approximately 5 miles (8km) west of Charing Cross on the north bank of the River Thames. ... Beckton is a place in the London Borough of Newham, located 8 miles (12. ... Crossness is a place in south-east London. ... A megaproject is an extremely large scale investment project. ...

As design and construction of such a tunnel would also 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 Battersea for treatment or storage, the other carrying water from Abbey Mills south to the river at Beckton) and improvements to associated treatment facilities.^[3] Battersea is a place in the London Borough of Wandsworth. ...

Trivia

• The system plays a large part in English writer Neil Gaiman's 1996 novel Neverwhere.
• It also featured as one of the Seven Wonders of the Industrial World in the BBC television series of the same name.
• Eleanor Updale's Montmorency (Beginning with Montmorency: Liar Thief Gentleman?) novels are set against the backdrop of the London sewer construction.

Neil Richard Gaiman () (born November 10, 1960, Portchester, Hampshire) is an English author of numerous science fiction and fantasy works, including many graphic novels. ... It has been suggested that this article be split into multiple articles accessible from a disambiguation page. ... Seven Wonders of the Industrial World is a book written by Deborah Cadbury. ...

References

Trench, R. and Hillman, E. (1984) London Under London: A Subterranean Guide (London: John Murray).

1. ^ http://www.thamestidewaystrategicstudy.co.uk/pdfs/TTSS_Executive_Summary.pdf
2. ^ http://www.guardian.co.uk/waste/story/0,12188,1189356,00.html
3. ^ http://www.nceplus.co.uk/news/news_article/?aid=55894&sid=47

External links

• Tales of the underworld from The Guardian Wednesday March 30, 2005