Stop 1 - Aquatics Centre

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Show transcript

We’re looking down at the Waterworks River. The river is one of several in the area whose origin is the River Lea, London’s second longest river whose source is on a farm 40 miles or 64 kilometers north of us near Luton airport.

The West Ham waterworks company gave Waterworks River its name in the 18th century to provide drinking water to London.
The water was unfiltered and untreated. But helped by the chalk deposits in the upper Lea Valley it provided much needed and relatively safe drinking water for a city that was always at risk from Cholera.

Back then the river was tidal with low lying marshy muddy banks that were prone to flooding. The high concrete walls you see today are a clue to the river’s new purpose as a channel for floodwater.

To find the next waypoint, walk across the bridge towards the London Stadium until you reach the fountains, and then turn around and look back.