Indeed. Cholera was a serious problem. in 1854, Dr John Snow, suspecting that contaminated water rather than "miasma" was the cause, mapped the cholera deat

Indeed. Cholera was a serious problem. in 1854, Dr John Snow, suspecting that contaminated water rather than "miasma" was the cause, mapped the cholera deaths in Soho, London: https://www1.udel.edu/johnmack/frec682/cholera/ https://www1.udel.edu/johnmack/frec682/cholera/ The closer to the Broad Street pump, the higher the death rate, with one exception: the nearby brewery. The workers at the brewery drank beer instead of water. (The water used to brew beer is boiled, killing the bacteria.) Dr Snow had the handle removed from the pump, ending the epidemic. There's now a pub nearby called the John Snow (in what is now called Broadwick Street), and a kerbstone made of pink granite where the pump was.