The History of Melbourne's Sewerage Network

The History of Melbourne's Sewerage Network

You may have heard Melbourne referred to as ‘Smellbourne’. Have you ever wondered where this nickname came from?

Metropolitan Plumbing is here to provide you with details of the history of Melbourne’s sewerage network, and plumbing advances from the early settlement to the existing water supply utopia that we know today.

Open Sewers (1850 – 1890)

The discovery of gold in 1851 caused a population boom in Melbourne and just 20 years later, it became the nation’s largest city. As the city began to grow from the Yarra River to Port Phillip Bay and beyond, Melbourne’s sewerage network was virtually non-existent.

Residents poured most household waste into open drains that flowed into street channels and eventually entered the Melbourne water supply. With no viable alternative, people disposed of farming and industrial waste in the same way. Over time, these practices transformed Melbourne’s waterways into open sewers, emitting foul odours across the land. A British journalist who visited the city famously coined it ‘Smellbourne’.

Waste Disposal Methods

Back in those days, the methods of disposing of waste were not glamorous at all. A toilet featured a bucket situated within a wooden structure, known as a ‘pan closet toilet’ or ‘thunderbox’. People mixed faeces with dirt or clay to dry the waste, a substance they referred to as night soil. Once a week, ‘nightmen’ would pick up the night soil from each house in Melbourne. The instruction was to utilise the soil as fertiliser in market gardens. However, they often dumped it in public places which only added to the horrendous smell within the city.

Unsurprisingly, this method of waste disposal was extremely unhygienic. A typhoid outbreak killed hundreds in the 19th century because of this. Until 1879, when authorities established a proper sewerage system, Melbourne recorded the highest infant mortality rate in the world.

A Sewerage System Revolution (1891 – today)

By the late 1800s, the sewerage system issues in Melbourne had escalated beyond control, necessitating action. Authorities established a Royal Commission to tackle the problem. The answer was to construct a system of pipes, sewers and drains underground.

1891 saw the establishment of the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works, a body created to oversee Melbourne’s water supply system and sewerage system. These systems would transport sewage from homes and factories to a treatment farm in Werribee. The following year, Spotswood became the location for the building of a new pumping station. And just like that, 10 years later, the first homes in Melbourne were connected to a working sewerage system.

Despite the state’s sewerage systems advancing significantly, Melburnians are still encountering problems with their sewerage drains. If your sewerage drain becomes blocked in Melbourne, a simple Google search will reveal the plumbing company for you. Here at Metropolitan Plumbing, we have been servicing Melbourne for over 25 years now.

The Werribee Sewerage Plant

The Werribee Sewerage plant has been in operation since 1897. However, it is now known as the Western Treatment Plant. It has played a crucial role in the development of the Melbourne you know and love today.

The methods used by the Western Treatment Plant have changed over time. Land filtration was the primary method of treatment during the summer. The process consisted of filtering sewerage into the soil to break down the pollutants. Once it had passed through the soil, it flowed out of the lower end of the paddocks used and into an earthen drain.

The First Lagoon Treatment

In the 1930’s, the main winter treatment method was grass filtration. This method was rather similar to the land filtration one, except that it involved a type of grass that tolerated continuous flooding.

In 1936, construction began on the first lagoon treatment. Sewerage in the lagoon is treated with solutions to remove nitrogen. Today, the plant features a network of lagoons, wetlands and areas that provide a habitat for various forms of wildlife.


Published: 2020-10-02

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