Satirical cartoon by 

William Heath, showing a woman observing monsters in a drop of London water (at the
time of the Commission on the London Water Supply report, 1828)

In the 19th century the quality of water in Thames deteriorated further. The discharge of
raw sewage into the Thames was formerly only common in the City of London, making its
tideway a harbour for many harmful bacteria. Gasworks were built alongside the river, and their
by-products leaked into the water, including spent lime, ammonia, cyanide, and carbolic acid.
The river had an unnaturally warm temperature caused by chemical reactions in the water, which
also removed the water's oxygen. [50] Four serious cholera outbreaks killed tens of thousands of
people between 1832 and 1865. Historians have attributed Prince Albert's death in 1861 to
typhoid that had spread in the river's dirty waters beside Windsor Castle. [51] Wells with water
tables that mixed with tributaries (or the non-tidal Thames) faced such pollution with the
widespread installation of the flush toilet in the 1850s.[51] In the 'Great Stink' of 1858, pollution in
the river reached such an extreme that sittings of the House of Commons at Westminster had to
be abandoned. Chlorine-soaked drapes were hung in the windows of Parliament in an attempt to
stave off the smell of the river, but to no avail.[52]
A concerted effort to contain the city's sewage by constructing massive sewer systems on the
north and south river embankments followed, under the supervision of engineer Joseph
Bazalgette. Meanwhile, similar huge undertakings took place to ensure the water supply, with the
building of reservoirs and pumping stations on the river to the west of London, slowly helping the
quality of water to improve.
The Victorian era was one of imaginative engineering. The coming of the railways added railway
bridges to the earlier road bridges and also reduced commercial activity on the river. However,
sporting and leisure use increased with the establishment of regattas such as Henley and the
Boat Race. On 3 September 1878, one of the worst river disasters in England took place, when
the crowded pleasure boat Princess Alice collided with the Bywell Castle, killing over 640 people.

20th century[edit]

The Thames as it flows through east London, with the Isle of Dogs in the centre

The growth of road transport, and the decline of the Empire in the years following 1914, reduced
the economic prominence of the river. During the Second World War, the protection of certain
Thames-side facilities, particularly docks and water treatment plants, was crucial to the munitions
and water supply of the country. The river's defences included the Maunsell forts in the estuary,
and the use of barrage balloons to counter German bombers using the reflectivity and shapes of
the river to navigate during the Blitz.
In the post-war era, although the Port of London remains one of the UK's three main ports, most
trade has moved downstream from central London. In the late 1950s, the discharge of methane
gas in