Daily Republican., 1884-05-14
The "West'' Sewerage Nystem.

The "West" Sewerage System.
For the REPUBLICAN,.
MEsSRS. EDITORS As q warm AL
voca,e of thoroughly good and vel
tried system of sewerage for our city
desire to make some comments upon tht
"West" system. as presented BY 1T
promoters at the special meeting O
Council, and some comparisons between
it and the Herring system. Upon tn
first point made by Mr.. West, viz: tha
Wilmington has peculiar natural al
vantages for sewer works, he simply
reiterates the opinion Of Messrs. Bogar1
and Herring, engineers of high standing
who carefully studi d the topography
of our city some time since.
Second-In respect to the disposal Of
sewage Mr.. West states that the sewage
OF WOrchester and Saratoga has pollu
ted the ad jacent streams, and that In tht
case ofSaratOga that city has adopted thu
filtration system. From these instances
he argues sewage filtration is necessary
here. The conditions affecting the dis
pOsal of the sewage of Wilmington DIFF
fer materially from the places cited
Unlike those cities we have at hand
the vast volume OF the Delaware as q
dilutant and purifier. The sewage OF
Philadelphia, with its population ap.
proximating million, is discharged
into this body of water, and notwith-
standing its highly decomposed condi.
tion, owing to its old fashioned and de.
fective combied sewers it is oxidiz
ed rapidly and lost sight of before reach
ing Chester.
The disposal of our sewage as re-
commended by Mr.. Herring would en-
tail no extra cost for dump wells,pumps
and tiltering beds and their mainte-
nance, as the sewerage of almost the
entire city would flow by gravity to the
Delaware, that being its ultimate des-
tination. For the present he recon-.
mends its discharge into tho Christiana
al the point near its confluence with the
Brandy wine through submerged pipe
extending to the bottom Of the channel.
1t has been feared by many that this
method of sewage disposal would in
increase the pollution of the Chris
tiana.
1t must be remembered that the pres
ept condition of that stream Is owing
mainly to street and factory filth which,
if not otherwise provided for, will go
90 there in any event, as 1t Is not con.
TEN plated to lay down costly system
of storm water sewers In addition the
household wastes reach the river after
decomposition, owing to their intercept
ii on and retention in the cutters, under
the gutter plates and in the catch
basins. In well divised and executed
system of pipe sewers the wastes reach
the river In few hours from the re-
hottest poiut in q fresh state favorable
to rapid oxidation.
To those who think that the sewage
so discharged is highly offensive
thing, an examination OF tho outflow
from the pipe sewer at Shipley street
wharf would be both surprising and
instructive. The discharge would be
found almost inodorous and resembling
the drainage from kitchen sink much
diluted. This fact can be better realized
when it is stated that the sewage con-
sists of about two ponds of solid matter
In solution In a barrel Of water.
Third Utilization of sewage. At the
first glance it would seem both desira-
BILE and profitable to restore oil house.
hold wastes to the earth ; but up 10 the
present it is generally conceded that
the valus of the sludge recovered will
not pay the cost of recovery.
Fourth of the West system.
The charge for sewer service is fixed at
seventy. five cents per room, TOR mouse
with ten rooms or less, for the first fiveI
years there after deduction oftwenty
five per centum. In addition one dollar
per foot is charged FIR house connec-
tions. This scale of charges would con-
tiuue as long as the sewers were con-
tro led by the corporation. The cost for
l.ouse connections wCllld vary from
fifty to one hundred dollars Any plum
her in Wilmington would make these
for one half these rates.
If we take the minimum figures the
Il ference would show profit to the
c rporaIiun of twenty five dollars per
house, or S225, ,0O0ifor the 5000 houses IN
0 II city. Assuming our dwellings to
average seven rooms, the eannual charge
would be So % per house, or TOR 9,0o0
houses SAT ,250. Let us contrast this
with the estimated cost to our citizens
if tie plans submitted to Mr.. HeringI
were adopted the sewers to ne gauged
for population of 100, 900 and to have
a temporary outfall near the McCul-
lough Iron Works. The capable spe-
cial committee of Council on sewerage |
presented to Council last March the fol-
lowing plan
1t was proposed to negotiate loan
of $3.50, 900, which was desmed ample
for the work contemplated.
To pay the interest on this, to provide
a sinking fund and to meet the current
expenses, would require annually in
the beginning an outlay of S25, 900, .
sum approximating one-third the re.
ceipts Of our Water Department for all
uses of water except tor steam. 1t was
proposad to meet this outlay by charg-
ing each premise yearly sewer rental
of one-third its water tax. This method
was considered equitable, inasmuch as
the users of the sewers would pay for
them and their maintenance in proper
tion to the quantity Of water used. 1t
=, ~ o,,, thot tho am a lest hOup0 with