Western Pumping Station and chimney, Pimlico, London SW1W 8QL

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Brief description

https://www.heritageopendays.org.uk/visiting/event/western-pumping-station-open-days-2023

"Western Pumping Station - Open Days 2023

124 Grosvenor Road, London, Greater London, SW1V 4BE

The main engine house, now a protected Grade II listed building, was described in 'The Builder' in 1973 as "Italian of simple character".

The elegant chimney was built to let out the exhaust steam and smoke.

Our Western Pumping Station, or ‘Western’ as it’s also known, is a key part of London’s wastewater drainage system. It was built over 150 years ago in Pimlico and was part of a radical overhaul by Joseph Bazalgette, Chief Engineer to the Metropolitan Board of Works. Before Western was built, London’s sewage directly flowed into the Thames through a network of watercourses and sewers. This understandably caused serious problems. By the mid-19th century, the river had become a foul-smelling health hazard, causing thousands of deaths through waterborne diseases such as cholera, typhoid and dysentery.

Bazalgette planned for a new network of sewers to carry London’s waste further downstream to the tidal part of the Thames – the estuary. As part of this plan, Western was opened in 1875, costing £180,489 to build.

From 1937 to the present day, our main source of power for Western has been four 600-horsepower diesel engines, which drive our pumps below through vertical shafts. We also have three pumps driven by electric motors to lift flows during dry weather."

Address

Western Pumping Station and chimney, Pimlico, 124 Grosvenor Road, London, Greater London, SW1V 4BE

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Website

https://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMQBR2_Chimney_of_the_Western_Pumping_Station_Pimlico_London

https://www.heritageopendays.org.uk/visiting/event/western-pumping-station-open-days-2023

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