The 1875 Public Act made a real difference to England's towns by finally forcing local councils to implement Chadwick's key recommendations from the 1840s.

Key Terms of the 1875 Public Health Act:

Government must:

Supply clean drinking water;
Remove sewage;
Clean the streets;
Appoint a medical officer in each district to enforce these rules.

The Act was finally passed because of:

Scientific Understanding: the work of Snow, Pasteur and Lister made people realise how disease was spread and why these measures were essential;
New Voters: the 1867 Reform Act gave some working class men the vote and so Parliament had to listen to the needs of people in the big cities for the first time.
Weakening of Laissez-faire: since the Great Stink in 1858 and the death of Prince Albert from typhoid in 1861, the rich realised that Public Health affected them too. This combined with improved scientific understanding made government much more willing to act.

The Public Health Act wasn't the only improvement. In 1865 Joseph Bazalgette completed his massive network of London sewers.

GCSE Health and the People AQA

Why was 1875 Public Health Act passed?