Smelly Facts About London's The Great Stink of 1858
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Date: 2022-12-29
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Comments and reviews: 20
Professor
Here in Santa Cruz CA we have one of the worst designed Harbors in the Country. It must be dredged at great expense yearly. The worst smell ever, the regular cycle of Anchovies. Yep they show up every couple years. Kids play at the beach and can catch a whole bucket of them like they are great fisherman. But the leftovers rot and clog up the Harbor. Its unbelievable. ya think oh I'll just take a stroll along this lovely jetty and go up to the lighthouse but gag gag nope not this year. The upside is you see more Whales breeching and gobbling up bait balls. Monterey Bay is literally the Serengeti of the ocean but its cold. 7 hours North of LA we do not share their climate and another 5 hours to Shasta before Oregon. The length of CA takes 12 hours to drive. Pack snacks.
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Here in Santa Cruz CA we have one of the worst designed Harbors in the Country. It must be dredged at great expense yearly. The worst smell ever, the regular cycle of Anchovies. Yep they show up every couple years. Kids play at the beach and can catch a whole bucket of them like they are great fisherman. But the leftovers rot and clog up the Harbor. Its unbelievable. ya think oh I'll just take a stroll along this lovely jetty and go up to the lighthouse but gag gag nope not this year. The upside is you see more Whales breeching and gobbling up bait balls. Monterey Bay is literally the Serengeti of the ocean but its cold. 7 hours North of LA we do not share their climate and another 5 hours to Shasta before Oregon. The length of CA takes 12 hours to drive. Pack snacks.
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SilverOwl13
Our local landfill also has a massive compost area for large amounts of food and plant waste. One summer, I was heading home from work, which takes me near the area of the land fill, but I'm still at least 2 miles away as the crow flies. The stench was so horrid I started gagging and nearly had to stop in the middle of the off ramp to puke. The only thing that stopped me was that I didn't want to breathe in anymore of the foul air. Thankfully, now I have a mask that I can put a filter in, and I plan on stuffing a sachet of ground up wax melts into it this summer.
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Our local landfill also has a massive compost area for large amounts of food and plant waste. One summer, I was heading home from work, which takes me near the area of the land fill, but I'm still at least 2 miles away as the crow flies. The stench was so horrid I started gagging and nearly had to stop in the middle of the off ramp to puke. The only thing that stopped me was that I didn't want to breathe in anymore of the foul air. Thankfully, now I have a mask that I can put a filter in, and I plan on stuffing a sachet of ground up wax melts into it this summer.
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Merc
Good example of how change takes time. I'm sure in 1858 it felt like the world was ending. DO SOMETHING! Yes yes, we know the river is polluted! And then technology comes along and mostly cleans it up. Can someone show this video to the global warming crazies? Yes yes, we know the air is polluted. Calm down, it'll get fixed. There are actually people on Earth who think we're some sort of virus on the planet and it would be better off without us. They're just as religious as the people they dislike.
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Good example of how change takes time. I'm sure in 1858 it felt like the world was ending. DO SOMETHING! Yes yes, we know the river is polluted! And then technology comes along and mostly cleans it up. Can someone show this video to the global warming crazies? Yes yes, we know the air is polluted. Calm down, it'll get fixed. There are actually people on Earth who think we're some sort of virus on the planet and it would be better off without us. They're just as religious as the people they dislike.
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Fawxy
Not mentioned here but when Joseph was designing his new sewers he actually made them far larger than anyone else said they needed to be, large enough to fit a population many dozens of times more than Londons current population. Why? because he forsaw London would undergo an enormouse population boom in the coming decades and centuries. This is why it's still in use to this day. There are not many who would have that kind of foresight back in those days/
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Not mentioned here but when Joseph was designing his new sewers he actually made them far larger than anyone else said they needed to be, large enough to fit a population many dozens of times more than Londons current population. Why? because he forsaw London would undergo an enormouse population boom in the coming decades and centuries. This is why it's still in use to this day. There are not many who would have that kind of foresight back in those days/
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-=Aftermath=-
A quick summary: This was how Cholera, Plauges, and many other diseases happened in London because of them dumping their waste into a cesspool (hole in the ground) and this would seep into the water system which spreaded diseases and a very deadly epidemic, the Cholera outbreak, many people in London at this time thought Miasma caused the epidemics (smelly air caused by garbage and waste) which wasn't true at all.
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A quick summary: This was how Cholera, Plauges, and many other diseases happened in London because of them dumping their waste into a cesspool (hole in the ground) and this would seep into the water system which spreaded diseases and a very deadly epidemic, the Cholera outbreak, many people in London at this time thought Miasma caused the epidemics (smelly air caused by garbage and waste) which wasn't true at all.
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Kathy
18 days. In those years before those 18 days how many thousands of people suffered and died because a few people with all the power didnt feel like spending the Citizens money on a Sewage System. Then they themselves had to deal with the smell, oh lucky days, those 18 days was all it took to change Parliaments mind about the Thames river Great Stink
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18 days. In those years before those 18 days how many thousands of people suffered and died because a few people with all the power didnt feel like spending the Citizens money on a Sewage System. Then they themselves had to deal with the smell, oh lucky days, those 18 days was all it took to change Parliaments mind about the Thames river Great Stink
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Ya
When I visited London as a child and they told my the Thames was toxic I was sad and didnt understand how it could still be poisonous. Now that Im older I shudder since Im pretty sure this is one of the worst biologically man made disasters (ie no oil spills or chemical disasters) in history.
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When I visited London as a child and they told my the Thames was toxic I was sad and didnt understand how it could still be poisonous. Now that Im older I shudder since Im pretty sure this is one of the worst biologically man made disasters (ie no oil spills or chemical disasters) in history.
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Rich
If you stop and think about it, the fact that we pee and poo directly into the precursor of life everyday in our toilet, it's pretty disgusting. They really do need to come up with a new way of getting rid of human waste as opposed to putting it directly into our most important need.
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If you stop and think about it, the fact that we pee and poo directly into the precursor of life everyday in our toilet, it's pretty disgusting. They really do need to come up with a new way of getting rid of human waste as opposed to putting it directly into our most important need.
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mahazero
3 Million is a bargain!
The over decades accumulated problem of sewage - solved.
Drinking water problem - solved.
Creating jobs on the way - done!
Let it work for a century - no problem!
a example for a good investment in infrastructure
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3 Million is a bargain!
The over decades accumulated problem of sewage - solved.
Drinking water problem - solved.
Creating jobs on the way - done!
Let it work for a century - no problem!
a example for a good investment in infrastructure
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Alex
The reason it is still in use today isnt because its super effective. I mean for the love of god you saw how the parliament did things. They keep it because it works good enough and they dont want to spend hundreds of millions if not billions to upgrade it.
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The reason it is still in use today isnt because its super effective. I mean for the love of god you saw how the parliament did things. They keep it because it works good enough and they dont want to spend hundreds of millions if not billions to upgrade it.
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Alison
Rotten food stuck in a drain at my work, it smelt so bad it literally gave me chills. Rotting meat and vegetables and just general dirt stuck in the bottom of our dustpan before we made it a priority to wash the dustpans out every single night.
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Rotten food stuck in a drain at my work, it smelt so bad it literally gave me chills. Rotting meat and vegetables and just general dirt stuck in the bottom of our dustpan before we made it a priority to wash the dustpans out every single night.
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Richard
The system is creeking now but that doesn't detract from Bazalgette's achievement. The UK regularly has sewage entering it's rivers and coastline. The sewage works at Erith were one of the first places that we had to visit during college.
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The system is creeking now but that doesn't detract from Bazalgette's achievement. The UK regularly has sewage entering it's rivers and coastline. The sewage works at Erith were one of the first places that we had to visit during college.
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Rob
Come to Decatur, Illinois on a hot summer day with Archer Daniels Midland and Tate & Lyle processing corn, nasty! On a lighter note, in Anchor Man, Brian Fantana's cologne was described as a used diaper with Indian food inside of it. LOL!
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Come to Decatur, Illinois on a hot summer day with Archer Daniels Midland and Tate & Lyle processing corn, nasty! On a lighter note, in Anchor Man, Brian Fantana's cologne was described as a used diaper with Indian food inside of it. LOL!
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Katsu
It's crazy to think that only a couple hundred years later we are no longer taking advice from scientists that there is nothing wrong with drinking our own poop and miasma theory is debunked and disease comes from dirty poo poo
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It's crazy to think that only a couple hundred years later we are no longer taking advice from scientists that there is nothing wrong with drinking our own poop and miasma theory is debunked and disease comes from dirty poo poo
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Duane
The Romans invested in sound infrastructure - Roads, Sewers.
Why can't some modern governments do that?
Or does the problem have to personally reach corrupt politicians or they have to be -bribed- lobbied$$$ first?
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The Romans invested in sound infrastructure - Roads, Sewers.
Why can't some modern governments do that?
Or does the problem have to personally reach corrupt politicians or they have to be -bribed- lobbied$$$ first?
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Orian
Even If this was 164 years ago I still feel horribly bad for those people who had to deal woth this for years. Actually no I don't those people were probably bad but who am I to say this-
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Even If this was 164 years ago I still feel horribly bad for those people who had to deal woth this for years. Actually no I don't those people were probably bad but who am I to say this-
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mud
I don't know about you guys, but I would pick up and leave. Walk until my feet bled, and walk some more. If anyone asked why, I'd say, can't you smell that? Smell's like shit!
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I don't know about you guys, but I would pick up and leave. Walk until my feet bled, and walk some more. If anyone asked why, I'd say, can't you smell that? Smell's like shit!
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line
lol. London is the great cesspool of all England Sherlock Holmes. late 1800's. the first sewer system is about the same time the first underground tube was designed. jeepers
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lol. London is the great cesspool of all England Sherlock Holmes. late 1800's. the first sewer system is about the same time the first underground tube was designed. jeepers
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Alias
The worst smell I've ever smelled was dried menstrual blood mixed with rotting meat at a public high school(some girl threw away a half-eaten meat sandwich in the bathroom)
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The worst smell I've ever smelled was dried menstrual blood mixed with rotting meat at a public high school(some girl threw away a half-eaten meat sandwich in the bathroom)
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Brandon
The worst smell I ever smelled was a potato that had rotted into a puddle. It smelled worse than st, literally.
. and when I bent down to clean it up, I almost died.
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The worst smell I ever smelled was a potato that had rotted into a puddle. It smelled worse than st, literally.
. and when I bent down to clean it up, I almost died.
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