Metropolitan Commission of Sewers - Activities

Activities

The Commission surveyed London's antiquated sewerage system and set about ridding the capital of an estimated 200,000 cesspits, insisting that all cesspits should be closed and that house drains should connect to sewers and empty into the Thames (ultimately, a major contributing factor to "The Great Stink" of 1858).

The Commission was notable in that it employed Joseph Bazalgette, first as assistant surveyor (from 1849), taking over as Engineer in 1852 after his predecessor died of "harassing fatigues and anxieties". Bazalgette was then appointed chief engineer of the Commission's successor, the Metropolitan Board of Works in 1856, and by the end of the decade after "The Great Stink" - his proposals to modernise the London sewerage system were being implemented.

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