Touring the Infrastructure

Nice bit of writing on London's sewers starting up on Slate today. Down in the Fleet, Rob shines his helmet lamp on a pipe. It's encrusted with something. "Liquid concrete!" he says with disgust. "This is a throwaway society. Out of sight, out of mind." People will chuck anything, he says. Flushersâ€”wastewater operatives got their name because they used to flush river water into the system to help it flowâ€”have found gold, jewelry, even motorbikes. But mostly they find cotton buds, condoms, and fat.

1 minute read

April 24, 2006, 10:01 AM PDT

By Anonymous

Nice bit of writing on London's sewers starting up on Slate today.

Down in the Fleet, Rob shines his helmet lamp on a pipe. It's encrusted with something. "Liquid concrete!" he says with disgust. "This is a throwaway society. Out of sight, out of mind." People will chuck anything, he says. Flushersâ€"wastewater operatives got their name because they used to flush river water into the system to help it flowâ€"have found gold, jewelry, even motorbikes. But mostly they find cotton buds, condoms, and fat.

Worth a read. As the saying goes, he'll be there all week.

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