The solution appeared simple: run all the waste disposal channels directly into the Thames River. The result of this, during an exceptionally hot summer, was the Great Stink of 1858.

London was mapped into high-, middle- and low-level areas, with a main sewer servicing each; a series of pumping stations was planned to remove the waste towards the east of the city.

London’s Great Stink of 1858 didn’t merely cause nausea citywide, it led to world-changing developments in science and engineering. Then, in the summer of 1858, a heat wave hit the city and caused the extraordinary amount of waste within the river to ferment, which made the river smell worse than it ever had before.

Many blamed the fetid smell that hung over the River Thames – by this time little more than an enormous sewer. In reality cholera is a waterborne disease. It was carried in the sewage polluting the city’s watercourses and passed to the capital’s population when they ingested polluted water.

Thames is filled with millions of tonnes of sewage each year… but half of Londoners still think it’s safe to swim in. M ore than half of Londoners think the Thames is safe to swim in, despite millions of tonnes of sewage flowing into the river each year, a new poll has found.

Where Can You Swim? The PLA allows swimming to take place upriver of Putney Bridge through to Teddington. It is permitted in this area only but be reminded that it is still a busy section of the tidal Thames for leisure and recreational activities.

Cool Thames Shark Facts: At least five species of shark and ray live in the Greater Thames Estuary.

On average there is one dead body hauled out of the Thames each week. Perhaps this is due to the POLAR BEAR in the Thames. In 1252 King Henry III received a bear as a gift from Norway. He kept it in the Tower of London and used to let it swim in the river to catch fish.

As a result, the system regularly overflows, and millions of tonnes of sewage spills, untreated, into the River Thames each year. He says, “Swimming in the Thames is dangerous on so many levels. It’s not just the sewage people should be aware of, but the tides, currents and water traffic too.

“Swimming in the Thames is dangerous on so many levels,” he said, urging residents not to take the plunge. The current pollution in the river does not only put people’s health at risk if they swim in the water, but also harms wildlife.

Most of this has been due to legislation: a whole bunch of laws were passed to stop agriculture dumping their waste in the river, alongside as a set of projects along the river to create habitats for wildlife. Today, the Thames contains 125 species of fish, and more than 400 species of invertebrates.

66′

He said: “I have caught and eaten trout in the Thames and it was delicious. In theory, if a fish is capable of living in the water, it can’t be bad to eat. You can only take two fish home a day. There is still concern, however, over the amount of sewage that gets into the Thames.

Andrew Mitchell, CEO of Tideway, said even once the sewer is completed, the Thames will still look brown. He said it is because it is a muddy river, owing to the silt on the riverbed. But he added new water that enters the system will be clean “almost overnight”.

The River Thames is the cleanest river in the world that flows through a major city. This is a major feat considering that fifty years ago the river was so polluted that it was declared biologically dead. From 1830 to 1860 tens of thousands of people died of cholera as a result of the pollution in the Thames.

River Thames

The Thames is considered to be the cleanest river in the world that flows through a major city. The Thames is home to 125 species of fish and more than 400 invertebrates. This is in spite of the fact that raw sewage is routinely pumped into the river during heavy rains.

If you mean ‘dirty’ as in brown and carrying dirt, then the Thames does carry a load of silt, and the effect of tides in its lower reaches (through London and towards the sea) means that the silt on the river bed is constantly being stirred up and suspended in the water.

In the 19th century inhabitants of the city regularly contracted cholera from the water and thousands perished. Now, it is the cleanest river in the world that flows through a major city. According to a survey by the Zoological Society of London, over 2000 seals have been spotted in the Thames between 2004-2014.

But the river started to die due to pollution, sewage, Industrial waste and by 1957 it was declared “biologically dead” by the Natural History Museum. Newspapers described the Thames as a filthy, foul-smelling drain. After 60 years of being declared dead, the Thames came back as one of the cleanest rivers in the world.

A man-made channel reduces the risk of flooding on the Thames. The Jubilee River is a man-made channel, built in the early 2000s.

Around 39 million tonnes of sewage flow into the Thames every year. A massive, new sewer is being built to fix that – but is it enough? There’s a lot of poop in London and not enough places to put it. Around 39 million tonnes of sewage flows into the River Thames each year.

The Greater London authority is right to look at it.” The Thames is 215 miles long from source to sea. The Crown Estate owns the river bed but has leased most of it to the PLA which also has responsibility for the foreshore to the high water mark. It also licenses the people who trade on the river.

Of the Thames’ 346km (215 mi) total length, 160km (99 mi) is in fact tidal, that’s close to half of the length. This section, which is known as the Tideway, stretches all the way from the sea until stopping at the first lock on the river in Teddington.

Thames Head

The Tidal Thames is home to a number of recognisable and charismatic marine mammals, including harbour seals, grey seals, harbour porpoises and the occasional bottlenose dolphins.

Thames Head is a group of seasonal springs, that arise near the village of Coates in the Cotswolds, about three miles south-west of the town of Cirencester, in the county of Gloucestershire, England.

The Thames Path is a National Trail following the River Thames from its source near Kemble in Gloucestershire to the Thames Barrier at Charlton, south east London. It is about 184 miles (296 km) long. The Thames Path’s entire length can be walked, and a few parts can be cycled.

Richmond Bridge

Textbooks tell us the River Severn is the longest – at 220 miles (354km), and the River Thames slightly shorter at 215 miles (346km) long.