One of the most famous waterways in the world, the River Thames, has for centuries played a pivotal role in the history of Britain. Claudius defeated the natives in AD 434, built a bridge, created Londinium and introduced Roman law and engineering to England. The Romans never conquered Scotland, however; instead they built Hadrian's Wall, an engineering masterpiece of forts and walls which literally marked the end of Rome's expansionism.

The Thames may soon see a renaissance for canal barges. Photo by David Mansell.

Much later, William The Conqueror built the Tower of London on the banks of the Thames, following his victory over Harold in 1066. Well into the 18th century, it was the Thames, not the roads, which was the main mode of transportation for Londoners. London has seen countless battles, dating from the Roman times to the rockets and bombs of WW II. The dockside cranes once dipped in a silent salute when Winston Churchill's body was borne along the Thames as the great wartime leader went to his final resting place.

London also has a permanent niche in the history of drinking water epidemiology. In 1854, Dr. John Snow, then studying lethal cholera outbreaks in London, suggested that the epidemic might be countered by removing the Broad Street pump from which people were drawing their water. Dr. Snow had noted that the cholera was mostly associated with water supplied by the Southwark and Vauxhall company which took water from the Thames below a major sewage outfall. He further noted that water supplied further upstream by the Lambeth Company had eight times fewer deaths from cholera than the Southwark and Vauxhall company.

At that time, the source of the cholera was a mystery. It was widely believed that such diseases were the consequences of evil behaviour, making victims of the indigent, the poor, the intemperate and the dissolute. Queen Victoria's husband, Prince Albert, was none of these. He was rich, industrious, athletic and talented in music, science and architecture. He died of a waterborne disease in 1861 ­ typhoid fever ­ when Britain was the richest country in the world.

Dr. Snow's intuition about cholera had many scornful detractors. One legend suggests that he took matters into his own hands by breaking the handle of the Broad Street water pump, preventing its use by Londoners in that area, but as the epidemic was already subsiding, it was difficult to prove the value of his actions. It took three more decades before the actual cholera bacillus was identified. But his actions had produced an awareness of the crucial importance of separating sewage discharges from drinking water sources.

Another Englishman, Sir Joseph Lister, surgeon and medical scientist, was also subjected to scepticism when he outlined his theories on antiseptic medicine. When he used carbolic acid during his operations, death rates from infectious complications plummeted. While his germ theory would seem to date from the dark ages, Joseph Lister actually died in 1912, approximately the time when Ardern, Lockett and Fowler were developing the world's first activated sludge treatment near Manchester. Their work still remains the keystone of modern wastewater technology.

In an age when people have walked and even driven cars on the moon as well as sent robots to Mars, it is incredible to think that pioneers of germ theories and wastewater treatment were alive less than a century ago.

The once badly polluted Thames has seen great improvement in water quality in recent years while London's docks, once the busiest in the world, declined badly in the last three decades. Ambitious plans are afoot which will make the dockyard cranes busy again. British Waterways (BW) which runs Britain's 3,200 kilometre canal network, recently took charge of the dock basins with a mandate to restore them to life.

Like the London docks, the canals and barges slumped into serious decline as the faster delivery times of railways and road haulage made them uncompetitive. Now, with British highways often suffering fom gridlock, the barges might play an environmental as well as an economic role in moving goods.

The recently refurbished flood control barriers at the mouth of the Thames will give the ancient city protection from tidal surges few cities can equal (ES&E cover story, September 1998).

As the millennium approaches, the ancient River Thames may now be poised for its renaissance.