The first engineer who made a comprehensive study of metropolitan sewerage needs thus described the conditions of London basements and cellars in 1847: «There are hundreds, I may say thousands of houses in this metropolis which have no drainage whatever and the greater part of them have stinking overflowing cesspools. And there are also hundreds of streets, courts and alleys that have no sewers». After two outbreaks of cholera a royal commission was appointed to inquire into sanitary improvements of London. In 1855 Parliament passed an act for the better local management of the metropolis which laid the basis for the sanitation of London.
In the continent a marked progress in sewerage began in 1842 when a severe fire destroyed the old part of the city of Hamburg. The portion ruined was the oldest and it was decided to rebuild it according to the modern ideas of convenience. As a result Hamburg was the first city which had a complete systematic sewerage system throughout built according to modern ideas.