In the early nineteenth century, London's rapid population growth severely strained its waste management system. The widespread adoption of the flush toilet, ironically intended to improve domestic hygiene, exacerbated the crisis. These toilets emptied into existing cesspools, which quickly overflowed into the city's outdated street sewers. Designed originally to carry away rainwater, the sewers discharged directly into the Thames River, turning it into an open sewer. By the hot summer of 1858, the sluggish, waste-laden river began to ferment under the intense heat, creating a stench so overpowering that it disrupted parliamentary sessions in Westminster. This crisis, known as the 'Great Stink,' ultimately forced Parliament to overcome years of political inertia and fund a massive, centralized sewage system designed by Joseph Bazalgette. While public health advocates had long warned of cholera outbreaks, it was the threat of legislative paralysis caused by the physical odor at Westminster, rather than epidemiological concern, that served as the immediate catalyst for municipal reform.
Based on the passage, the overflow of London's cesspools was directly caused by which of the following?
- AThe design of the street sewers, which had been originally built to divert rainwater away from the city.
- BThe frequent overflow of cesspools, which prompted Londoners to adopt flush toilets to improve hygiene.
- The rapid adoption of flush toilets, which introduced more waste than the cesspools could contain.Answer
- DThe legislative paralysis of Parliament during the hot summer of 1858, which prevented the maintenance of the city's cesspools.