The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1888-10-24
THE cITY'S SEWERAGE.


The sewerage Of a city is corfessediy
. Tfeeaution TO preserve the health a
the city or its inhabitants. and there.
fore IN one sense all o. its inhab:tant.
are equally interested both in It's COS.
and its details. whether their property
interests mae be large or small. The
object OF this paper Is to sketch wha,
seems to the writer TO be the mos
rat'onai manner OF Distributing tbs
cost Of any sewerage proposition. in
such way rs TO make its burdens fall
equitahly on all parties interested.
Nearly all sewerage schemes are
made up OF large number OF collect,
ing drains, and principal outlet with
perhaps certain intercepting sexers in
connection Herewith. Now a. it Is the
duty OF each householder to keep BIZ.
premises clean 30 that they shall NOT
become nuisance 10 his neishiors.
he shall pay his fair proportion OF The
cost OF the collecting system TO which
lias property Is tributary, and the pub
iic az large SHOULD bear the cost OF the
outlet system. which has been rem
dered necessarily larger than any one
collecting system requires. by the con-
centration Of AL these systems into
one
To Illustrate: In any hilly town
such IS Seattle. san Francisco or San
Diego, II IS evident that there must
exist a aaniber OF independent valleys
or drainage basins the sewerage of
which cannot he concentrated exeept
IN the main outlet. Some of these ha-
sans may present easy and Others diff
Iicult problems, making a5serious DIFF
ference in the cost to the respective
residents. Ii the citizen in an easily
severed locality has fulfilled his duty
at 4 small cost. he should not beealled
upon to bear portion OF the expenses
OF citizen who lives in locality
where the cost is excessive.
Now, in San Francisco (which. by
the way. has nothing 10 be proud OF
in the way. of seweragel. there is no
system Whether the sewerage in
front OF . block be merely a small pipe
at the extreme outskirts of collect
ing system, or a tive-foot sewer in the
lower districts along the shore, made
necessary by the extent of the area
drained, the property fronting on the
block pays the entire cost of that
block. This Is evidently unfair. The
owner on the fiye-foof sewer paws a
part of what should really be paid BY
the owner on the pipe, for the latter
IS worse than useless without the
former. In a few cases the burden
has been somewhat eqaalized BIZ build
ing considerable length of sewerage
at once and assessing the cost equally
on all the frontage passed, but the
fact remains that there is no recogni-
ton OF the principles that sewers are
for general safety as well as personal
. comfort. and should be paid for &C
cordingly.
IN san Diego again the city voted to
issue 500 900 worth OF bonds to sewer
the city. Now, as d matter of fact.
only part Of the city has been severed
with this money. When the property
owners outside OF the area ALREADY
severed, desire the benefits OF sewer
age, they viii undoubtedly have to pay
for the sewerage themselves, as ii il
came 10 issuing another series OF
bonds. 1t is not, however, TO suppose
that the owners in the district already
severed viii vote to increase their
taxes by such issue, and il is easily
understood how they would outyote
the other side.
Now as a general thing the sewering
OF any individual basin or drainage
area, is very simple proposition.
The city should be divided into as
many of these areas as the topography
of the place demands. Each of these
areas will require an independent sys-
tenn, the outlet of which should be so
located as to connect in proper man
ner with the main outlet or "cloaca
maxima" of the old Romans, and the
cost of sewering this district should be
assessed on the land embraced within
the limits OF the district, and on no
other. Each section of the city will
thus. as it settles up, bear its equitable
share in the cost of sewering the whole.
The main outlet should be public
burden, and as IL must necessarily be
made much larger in the young days
Of city, that it may be equal 10 the
demand upon il in the days of its ex-
pansion, il might legitimately be paid
for by the issuance OF bonded debt,
some OF which would be paid in the
iullIt w kubSe uSfNlEiS tic bclscAs
Of our foresight.
The application OF the principles
here outlined can be made by any one
| II is palpahle that sewerage draining
into Lakes Washington or Union viii
require different dispo-ition to that
emptying into Elliot bay, and that
the proper time to take these things
into consideration Is before devising a
plan which is intended for the future
as well as the present. and which vii
| cost more TO undo ii defective than its
original expense. Witness san Fran
cisco.
/ Lastly, there Is no such thing a:
cheap sewerage. 4 drain badly put
down is worse than no drain at all
As long as the sewerage is present witt
us il IS palpable nuisance which w
desire TO get rid of. Once out o.
sight we are apt TO forget all about 1t
vet defective work may in reality
render it more destructive than wheI
il was in the surface of the gro nd
4 badly lnted joint may contaminat'
our water supply unseen and onl,
traceable with difficulty, or a bad tida
outlet may convert sewer into a cess
pool. assn the streets south OF Mar
ket street. San Francisco, where th
effect OF the tide is felt for more thai
10 blocks from the shore. first-clas
sewers are, however, one of the great
est blessings city can possess, and
recommendation 10 all who propos
10 become residents.
Il. II. STRETCH.
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