He took a break from a hectic Commons schedule to visit a mock-up of a Victorian Street created in Westminster by Water Aid, the charity which brings clean water to developing countries.
Actors were brought in to help recreate a London where sewage-contaminated water supplied through leaking pipes to public pumps was the cause of major outbreaks of cholera and typhoid.
Mr Liddell-Grainger, a Water Aid supporter, said one other factor completed the effect.
“It was the smell,” he said. “People living in the 19th century were obviously used to it but to 21st century noses it was quite unbearable.”
In 1858 the Palace of Westminster had to be evacuated because of the Great Stink – the noxious gases given off in hot weather by the sewage-contaminated Thames, an event which was the catalyst for the construction of Joseph Bazalgette’s huge new London sewerage system.
But, said Mr Liddell-Grainger: “We forget that conditions like this are still commonplace in many parts of the world today. That’s an intolerable situation and I am delighted to support Water Aid’s efforts to ensure more people have clean, safe water to drink.”