ABSTRACT
The social context of science also perpetuated vagueness. The discovery of the concept of biological sewage treatment was a model of interdisciplinary cooperation, rather than an excuse for the unwillingness of the Metropolitan Board of Works to adopt more expensive sewage treatment processes. German sanitary science had a major influence on the recognition of the importance of stream biology by the scientists of the West Riding of Yorkshire Rivers Board about 1910. The controversy over the self-purification of the Thames and Lea that was linked to attempts to obtain public control of the London water supply ended in 1901, when the London water companies were bought out under an act of parliament. Controversial aspects of water-and-sewage policy, such as the effect of marine sewage discharge on edible shellfish, were investigated thoroughly by scientists hired by the commission, a contrast to the practice of earlier commissions of determining facts by allowing scientists representing opposing parties to present contradictory scientific studies.
