Casgliadau Arlein

water pump

The worst outbreak of Cholera in Wales was in Cardiff in 1849. The drinking water for the town was drawn either from the River Taff or Glamorganshire canal - also where the town's sewage was dumped. Cholera attacked the intestines and was a highly contagious disease. It was carried primarily by germs which flourished in polluted water and by flies contaminating food. Between 1832 and 1866, four major cholera epidemic swept through Britain. At the time, doctors had no idea what caused cholera and thought it was some form of invisible gas or miasma. Many thought it had been sent by God to punish people for their sins.