John Phillips (surveyor)
Encyclopedia
John Phillips was a British
engineer and surveyor in the first half of the 19th century. His work and reports led to the building of London
's sewage system.
The conditions in London resembled those of most cities of two hundred years ago. By that time nearly every residence had a cesspool which collected and stored all house wastes beneath its first floor. With cesspools overflows, failure of proper drainage and the contamination of drinking water, epidemic
s and lingering illnesses became common. Fires and explosions due to methane
build up in unventilated cesspools were just as frequent. Such conditions are vividly described in the following account from 1849, when workers entering to examine cesspools with oil lamp
s triggered sudden blasts:
Although sanitary wastes were a constant input to Europe
an sewer systems, designs did not anticipate this component until 1843 in Hamburg
. The first types of wastewater legally allowed into the storm sewers were dishwater and other kitchen wastes. When the water closet came into general use in the mid-19th century, existing privy vaults and cesspools became overwhelmed. Eventually, this led to the permitted discharge of sanitary wastes into sewers previously restricted to surface runoff only, legally creating combined wastewater. The permitted discharge of sanitary wastes did not occur in London until 1847 (Kirby and Laurson 1932) or in Paris
until 1880 (Reid 1991).
Phillips proposed the separate system of sewerage for London in 1849. But a few years later, Bazalgette’s combined system was selected (Metcalf and Eddy 1928). Although supporters for separate sewerage existed, early systems were mostly combined because: (1) there was no European precedent for successful separate systems; (2) there was a belief that combined systems were cheaper to build than a complete separate system; and (3) engineers were not convinced that agricultural use of separate-sanitary wastewater was viable (Tarr 1979).
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
engineer and surveyor in the first half of the 19th century. His work and reports led to the building of London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
's sewage system.
London in the 1840s
By the 1840s, London’s population numbered over two million, living in several hundred thousand households. An awareness of the need for sewerage reform and development led to the first comprehensive study of the metropolis for the purpose of planning sewerage improvements.The conditions in London resembled those of most cities of two hundred years ago. By that time nearly every residence had a cesspool which collected and stored all house wastes beneath its first floor. With cesspools overflows, failure of proper drainage and the contamination of drinking water, epidemic
Epidemic
In epidemiology, an epidemic , occurs when new cases of a certain disease, in a given human population, and during a given period, substantially exceed what is expected based on recent experience...
s and lingering illnesses became common. Fires and explosions due to methane
Methane
Methane is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is the simplest alkane, the principal component of natural gas, and probably the most abundant organic compound on earth. The relative abundance of methane makes it an attractive fuel...
build up in unventilated cesspools were just as frequent. Such conditions are vividly described in the following account from 1849, when workers entering to examine cesspools with oil lamp
Oil lamp
An oil lamp is an object used to produce light continuously for a period of time using an oil-based fuel source. The use of oil lamps began thousands of years ago and is continued to this day....
s triggered sudden blasts:
- "Explosions occurred in two separate locations where the men had the skin peeled off their faces and their hair singed. In advancing toward Southampton, the deposit deepens to 2 feet 9 inches, leaving only 1 foot 11 inches of space in the sewer. At about 400 feet from the entrance, the first lamp went out and, 100 feet further on, the second lamp created an explosion and burnt the hair and face of the person holding it."
John Phillips, surveyor of the Westminster Court of Sewers, report to Royal Commission 1847
In 1847, the first official report on sewerage and drainage by the engineer John Phillips, contained the following description, which portrayed a typical situation of the time:- “I am of the opinion, that not one half of the entire filth produced in the metropolis finds its way into the sewers, but is retained in the cesspools and drains in and about the houses, where it lies decomposing, giving off noxious effluvia and poisonous sulphuretted hydrogen and other gases which constantly infect the atmosphere of such houses from top to bottom, and which, of course, the inhabitants are constantly breathing... There are hundreds, I may say thousands, of houses in this metropolis which have no drainage whatever, and the greater part of them have stinking, overflowing cesspools, and there are also hundreds of streets, courts and alleys that have no sewers; and how the drainage and filth are cleaned away and how the miserable inhabitants live in such places it is hard to tell. In pursuance of my duties, I have visited very many places where filth was lying scattered about the rooms, vaults, cellars, areas, and yards, so thick and so deep that it was hardly possible to move for it. I have also seen in such places human beings living and sleeping in sunk rooms with filth from overflowing cesspools exuding through and running down the walls and over the floors. It is utterly hopeless to expect to meet with either civilization, benevolence, religion or virtue, in any shape, where so much filth and wretchedness abounds The effects of the effluvia, stench and poisonous gases constantly evolving from these foul accumulations were apparent in the haggard, wan and swarthy countenances and enfeebled limbs of the poor creatures whom I found residing over and amongst these dens of pollution and wretchedness.... Morality, and the whole economy of domestic existence is outraged and deranged by so much suffering and misery."
Separation of effluent from storm waters
Combined- Versus Separate-Sewer SystemsAlthough sanitary wastes were a constant input to Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an sewer systems, designs did not anticipate this component until 1843 in Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
. The first types of wastewater legally allowed into the storm sewers were dishwater and other kitchen wastes. When the water closet came into general use in the mid-19th century, existing privy vaults and cesspools became overwhelmed. Eventually, this led to the permitted discharge of sanitary wastes into sewers previously restricted to surface runoff only, legally creating combined wastewater. The permitted discharge of sanitary wastes did not occur in London until 1847 (Kirby and Laurson 1932) or in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
until 1880 (Reid 1991).
Phillips proposed the separate system of sewerage for London in 1849. But a few years later, Bazalgette’s combined system was selected (Metcalf and Eddy 1928). Although supporters for separate sewerage existed, early systems were mostly combined because: (1) there was no European precedent for successful separate systems; (2) there was a belief that combined systems were cheaper to build than a complete separate system; and (3) engineers were not convinced that agricultural use of separate-sanitary wastewater was viable (Tarr 1979).