Dear reader, I have no idea what twisted path I went down to arrive at this particular topic. I only know that somehow, I stumbled upon a picture with a caption that said, “Victorian Stink Pipe in Modern Day London” and I was hooked. So, buckle up. I’m about to plunge you headfirst into sewage history.
I had never heard the phrase “stink pipe” before. For those of you who are also in the dark, they are also known as stench poles, plumbing vents, sewer vents, drain-waste-vent systems (DWVs), or, the term I have always used: vent stacks. If you have the technology to read this blog, then I guarantee that you’re within several feet of a stink pipe every day, whether you know it or not.
The humble stink pipe is oft overlooked, but it shouldn’t be underestimated. It has played an important role in doubling, if not tripling our lifespans. After you read this, you’ll have an increased appreciation for these humble objects.
One thing is certain: mankind has been struggling with what to do with its sh*t for as long as we’ve existed. It’s a good thing that it stinks, because that made us want to avoid being around it long before we understood what a health hazard it could be.
While doing research for this post, I learned a lot of fascinating things that go way beyond stink pipes. For example, there’s more than one reason that most old cities sprung up next to water sources. Of course, humans need water to survive. Water can also be used as a power source. But the reason that most people don’t like to discuss is that it was quite common to use those same water sources as trash bins for your sanitation. The same water you drank from, you essentially shat into. Another “solution” was siphoning waste directly onto nearby farm fields, but in that case, the sewage can still leach into the water system.
Unsanitary water causes cholera, botulism, E. coli infections, dysentery, typhoid fever, hepatitis, polio, intestinal worms, not to mention algae blooms that kill marine life. No wonder human life expectancy was so abysmally low back then.
And of course as cities grew, their “output” grew as well. Most European cities were, frankly, disgusting as recently as the 1830’s. People “went” everywhere. They often threw the contents of their chamber pots out the window. There were steaming piles of poo as far as the eye could see. Sewage flowed down the center of roadways to the point where stepping stones had to be strategically placed so that people could cross streets without getting muck on their shoes. And the stench, as you can imagine, was revolting.
In 1850, London had a population of about 2,500,000. That’s a lot of poop. For context, the city of Seattle currently has a population of about 734,000, and according to its solid waste quarterly reports, it deals with around 120,000 tons of solid waste every three months. So London in 1850, with its ancient, brick-lined sewer system and a population that was bursting at the seams, was in big, big trouble.
In fact, the year 1850 is known as The Great Stink in London history, because the feces became so voluminous that the system came to a standstill when it wasn’t overflowing into the Thames River. The festering sludge produced gases that seeped upward from every drain, sink and toilet to the point where parliament had to move out of town in order to be able to conduct its business. Those gases sometimes exploded or caught fire. During the heat of July and August the odor and gas output was even worse.
Joseph Bazalgette was a civil engineer who was employed to overhaul the London sewer system entirely, and reading what he had to do to solve the problem is fascinating. It cost 20 million pounds, which, in modern times works out to about 791 million pounds, or US$ 1,007,144,705. The fact that his name still comes to us out of the stench of history tells you how much of a difference he made to the people of London. But writing about his work in detail would make this post 10 times longer.
So let’s, instead, focus our attention on Sir Goldsworthy Gurney. (And isn’t that a great name?) He was an engineer from Cornwall whose sole task was to deal with the smell rising up from the sewers. He got off to a shaky start.
First, he attached a pipe to the sewers, and strapped that pipe up the side of Big Ben’s clock tower. He then went up and struck a match, hoping that the sewer gases would burn off. But no. So then he tried putting a coal fire at the base of the tower. That actually worked. The gases burned. But, if you’re like me, you’re thinking, “what could possibly go wrong?”
Well, it could have been a spectacular disaster. Fortunately, Bazalgette was wandering around inside the sewer system to inspect it, and discovered that there was a leak from a fractured gas pipe very near that coal fire, and if he hadn’t caught it in time, that might have been the end of Big Ben and the palace of Westminster. So Gurney shelved the idea of burning sewer gas.
These gases mainly consist of hydrogen sulphide, and not only does it give off a rotten egg smell, but it also has been known to eat through concrete. So Gurney soldiered on to combat this foul odor. Finally, he created a system of stink pipes, many of which can still be seen, following the route of London’s Victorian sewer system. Many of them are in use today.
In order to vent the gases above nose level, and have them be disbursed by the wind, these pipes had to be about 20 feet tall. Being Victorians, the manufacturers of these pipes made them extremely ornate. Many look like fancy cast iron Grecian pillars, with fluted columns. Others have studded rings or even rose décor. A few are even crowned with gold. People walk past them all the time without thinking much about them. Many passersby probably think they’re old oversized lamp posts with the lamps missing.
Stink pipes do have a fan following. There are websites dedicated to them. You can see hundreds of pictures of them online. (I’ll include a few of my favorites below.) There’s even a locator map (link below) if you’re inclined to go on a stink pipe hunt.
So, here’s a question: if these contraptions are so successful at their jobs, why don’t you see them all over the world? Well, you do and you don’t. Over time we have learned that it’s a lot easier to vent the gas at the source rather than having these decorative behemoths lurking about. In other words, if you look at the roof of any structure that has a sink or toilet, you’ll most likely see a pipe sticking up at least 6 inches.
They may not be as pretty today, but stink pipes abound. I try not to think of the “stink zone” this would create 20 feet above us the world over were it not for the wind. Granted, that would be better than having the smell permeate every room of your home. So, three cheers for stink pipes, I say! We may overlook them, but we’d sure miss them if they were gone.
If you think my blog posts are long, my research is even longer. Check out these sources:
Strictly Stink Pipe:
https://londonist.com/2016/08/the-victorian-structures-hidden-in-plain-sight
http://stinkpipes.blogspot.com/
https://stinkpipes.blogspot.com/2012/06/invention-of-stinkpipe.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drain-waste-vent_system
https://www.londonshoes.blog/2019/03/09/the-victorian-stink-pipes-of-old-london-town/
https://www.gladesvilleplumbing.com.au/do-i-need-a-stink-pipe-sewer-vent/
https://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/news/local-news/inside-100-year-old-stink-3289488
All things Sanitation:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_water_supply_and_sanitation#
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterborne_disease
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Stink
https://www.seattle.gov/utilities/about/reports/solid-waste#quarterly
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/19th-century_London
https://daily.jstor.org/a-history-of-human-waste-as-fertilizer/
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