Editing Pollution (section)

=== 19th century ===
The Industrial Revolution gave birth to environmental pollution as we know it today. London also recorded one of the earliest extreme cases of [[water quality]] problems with the [[Great Stink]] on the [[River Thames|Thames]] of 1858, which led to the construction of the [[London sewerage system]] soon afterward. Pollution issues escalated as [[population growth]] far exceeded the ability of neighborhoods to handle their waste problem. Reformers began to demand sewer systems and clean water.<ref>Lee Jackson, ''Dirty Old London: The Victorian Fight Against Filth'' (2014)</ref>

In 1870, the sanitary conditions in [[Berlin]] were among the worst in Europe. [[August Bebel]] recalled conditions before a modern [[sewerage|sewer]] system was built in the late 1870s:

{{blockquote|Waste-water from the houses collected in the gutters running alongside the curbs and emitted a truly fearsome smell. There were no public toilets in the streets or squares. Visitors, especially women, often became desperate when nature called. In the public buildings the sanitary facilities were unbelievably primitive....As a metropolis, Berlin did not emerge from a state of barbarism into civilization until after 1870.<ref>Cited in David Clay Large, ''Berlin'' (2000) pp 17-18</ref>}}