Wikipedia:Today's featured article/requests/Great Stink

Great Stink

 * This is the archived discussion of the TFAR nomination for the article below. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as Wikipedia talk:Today's featured article/requests). Please do not modify this page. 

The result was: scheduled for Today's featured article/June 23, 2015 by — Chris Woodrich (talk) 06:19, 4 June 2015 (UTC)



The Great Stink was an incident in July and August 1858 in which the smell from untreated human waste and industrial effluent being pumped onto the banks of the River Thames was exacerbated by the low levels of the river in hot weather. The cause was the inadequate and archaic sewerage system in London, which poured waste into the river. Victorian healthcare still believed in the miasma theory and the smell, rather than the effluent, was thought to transmit contagious diseases; three outbreaks of cholera prior to the Great Stink were blamed on the ongoing problems with the river. The smell disrupted the work of Parliament, who accepted the proposal from the civil engineer Joseph Bazalgette (pictured) to move the effluent eastwards along a series of interconnecting sewers that sloped towards outfalls beyond the metropolitan area. Pumping stations were built to lift the sewage from lower levels into higher pipes, and two of the more ornate buildings, Abbey Mills in Stratford and Crossness on the Erith Marshes, are listed for protection by English Heritage. Bazalgette's plan introduced the three embankments to London in which the sewers ran—the Victoria, Chelsea and Albert Embankments. The work ensured that sewage was no longer dumped onto the shores of the Thames and brought an end to the cholera outbreaks. Although Bazalgette planned for the sewers to support a city of 4.5 million, the system still operates into the 21st century, servicing a city that has grown to over 8 million.
 * Most recent similar article(s): ? Not sure when we've had ran our last scatalogical TFA!
 * Main editors: SchroCat
 * Promoted: 12 March 2015
 * Reasons for nomination: No real reason for running it, except that it's mildy interesting. Preferably a date in late June would be good, which would correspond with the timeframe in 1858, but no other pressure aside from that.
 * Support as nominator. SchroCat (talk) 08:36, 3 June 2015 (UTC)
 * Support as rather more than mildly interesting. [insert your own joke about Parliament and turds here] BencherliteTalk 09:41, 3 June 2015 (UTC)
 * Oppose. Would work so much better as an April 1st article. --Harizotoh9 (talk) 09:49, 3 June 2015 (UTC)
 * I'm not sure why one of the largest civil engineering projects of its time is to be wasted on something so trite and pointless as Fools Day. Does it automatically get considered for that just because it concerns the disposal of shit? - SchroCat (talk) 09:54, 3 June 2015 (UTC)


 * Support A salutary reminder of how recent our supposed civilisation is. Certainly it will be more potent as a front page article in the (Northern Hemisphere) summer than in cooler months.  Tim riley  talk    11:39, 3 June 2015 (UTC)
 * Support – A very interesting article and one I'd be happy to see on the main page. Would this be the first time a shit article has appeared as TFA?   Cassianto Talk   12:43, 3 June 2015 (UTC)
 * Support Indeed, sorry I missed that it had passed!♦ Dr. Blofeld  19:12, 3 June 2015 (UTC)