Bazalgette's First Makeover

[Chiltern Chris]

Hooray, this may be the end of s**t in the Thames with the demise of the combined sewer overflows ( BBC NEWS | England | London | New tunnel for Thames pollution ). Joseph Bazalgette's 1865 London sewers were a magnificent achievement but were designed with a fail-safe which put untreated sewage into the Thames if the sewer filled to capacity with rainwater (that's why London's sewers are called combined sewers, as they take sewage and rainwater in the same pipes). As London now generates far more surface water than in 1865, because of all the tarmac, concrete and houses, the sewers often overflow into the Thames, killing a significant amount of wildlife and posing possible health problems. This will be the first upgrade needed in 150 years - not bad Mr Bazalgette. I know consumers will complain about the price but they haven't had to pay for new sewers for 150 years and the last ones were paid for on the back of Empire, so they've not had a bad deal overall.

The new sewer won't be in place until after the Olympics, so there's still a big risk of what some are calling the 'green Olympics' turning into the 'brown Olympics' if there's a thunderstorm in London in July 2012.

Cheers, Chris

[nightshade]

Nice report Chris I have been around when Thames water had to rescue
fish and oxygenate stretches of the river after overflows
(and when there are long dry spells)

[aeshna5]

I saw this on the TV last night + as a resident of the Thames area this is one service I'm happy to pay for, which is more than can be said of the Olympic Games itself!