In the summer of 1858, London was plunged into crisis when its antiquated sewer system collapsed under the pressure of the city’s booming population. One tributary of the Thames had become a “putrid mass”, The Builder reported, while any sewage which did make it out to sea was quickly swept back by the incoming tide. Cholera, the water-borne disease which plagued the capital at this time, tore through the city’s poor and wealthy districts alike, killing thousands who depended on the polluted river for drinking water.

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