A Discussion About The Problem And The Solution Of The River Pollution In The Mid-late 19th Century England

Industry Revolution ended in England in the middle of the 19th century. With the rapid development of industrialization and the urbanization, the pollution of the river was increasingly serious. This paper attempts to indicate the proofs of the pollution of the rivers and the causes of it .Moreover, to find the efforts on solution and why all the efforts did not make better influence.The quality of the water of some rivers was worse than before in the middle of the 19th century. At that time, people drank the water which was from the polluted rivers. As a result, some persons got cholera, diarrhea and typhoid fever which took bad effect on the life and made the society instable. It is indicated that the reasons for the river pollution are clear. First, the industry developed rapidly after the Industry Revolution with more factories and more workers. The industry waste and excrement was send to the river without dealing; Second, with the developing of the society, the population is more, especially in the industry districts, constructions are slow, in spite of some sewers, the waster went into the rivers, too; Third, The government pushed laissez-faire policy and did not focus on public affairs, so he paid no more attention to the river pollution.Many efforts were made to protect the rivers. Some officials made good investigation and gave advice, which forced the government to take measures to solve the problem; The central government transforms from the laissez-faire into moderate intervention, appointed River Pollution Committee to investigate the condition and made more sewers. River Pollution Committee found out the common law had disadvantages, so the parliament passed new bill to solve the problem. The people who were the victims of the problem had meetings to discuss the question calling more attention to the fate of the river.Although so many efforts were made, to our disappointed, the pollution was more serious. why? We can make conclusion by the material. The government did not give effective instructions to lead the country to solve the problem until 1876; The relation between the central and local government was not in harmony, local government was afraid of the intervention form the central; The public had no sense of protecting the river, meanwhile they can not afford to beat with the owners, so they had to endure the damage; Owners of the factories and mining did not agree to solve the river pollution by law because of the high fees for the process of dealing the industry waste, They reluctant to obey the rulers.In a word, the river pollution appeared with the industrialization and the urbanization. England went ahead with the mean of "first pollute and then solve". Solving the problem is not only to deal with the waste but also to call the attention to get well along with the nature.