Los Angeles daily herald., 1889-12-19
THE SEWERS.
Mr.. Herring Gives Some
Opinions About Them.
THE STORM DRAINS SEPARATE.
He Does Not Think the Sewage Should
Be Purified Before Used for
Irrigation.

C0mmltteo anu tho DodIu VI IuSiuoohn
at work on the sewer plans was held
Yesterday afternoon in the Council
chamber, q. N. Wells in the chair, and
Messrs. w. 81. Workman, ]. Culver. ].
e. Platter, VIM. Ferguson, J. r. Tober-
man, ]. E. Jackson, J. P. Widney, A. H.
Judson, and Engineers G. G. Knox, F.
Eaton and B. Herring present.
There was quite number of inter-
ested spectators in the audience, and
President Frankenfeld and several Of
the Councilmen listened to the proceed
ings, which consisted mainly of ques-
tioning Mr.. Herring as to his opinions
relative to the sewer system.
The Chairman stated that the meeting
had been called in q hurry for the pur-
pose of obtaining the views of the Board
Of Engineers upon the suggestions
adopted by the Sewer Commission and
contained in it's report. He then recited
the recommendations made in the report
and explained them to the engineers
present.
Mr.. jackson said he observed that Mr..
Herring was present, and he asked that
he be invited to give his opinion upon
the recommendations and his conclu-
sions as to the necessity Of the city for
sewers.
Mr.. Herring said that he had not sup
posed he would be called upon and was
not prepared to make his report at that
time. He had thought the meeting was
to be informal and that the commission
would give him its ideas 30 that he could
ascertain what was desired. It would
be premature to give the conclusions of
the Board of Engineers ct that time, but
he would be happy to answer any ques-
tions that might be asked, and would
give his personal views on anything the
commission desired.
The Chair then stated in detail the
recommendations of the commission and
its conclusions.
Mr.. Herring said that 80 far as the
board had discussed those points, there
was no great difference between it's con-
illusions and those of the commission.
He understood that there would be q
limited sum of money to expend, and it
was the province of the board to say how
that money could be best expended for
the health and interests of the city.
There were some points of difference,
however, of which he would speak. He
could not endorse the opinion Of the
commission requiring sewage to be puri-
fed before being turned onto the land.
The question of publication of sewage
had been studied for many years, espe-
cially in Europe, and it had
been found that the only method
of purifcation was very expensive.
In no case had it cost less
than rs cents per person per year, and
there was only one instance when it had
cost as little as that. This was in Eng
land, where labor was cheaper than in
this country. Estimates of the cost of
purifying sewage in this country showed
that it would average 75 cents per person
per year. In Providence the estimate
was 80 cents per person. In Orange,
New Jersey the cost ia nearly rs cents per
person, and it would be no less here.
For city of 100000 people the cost
would be 10000 per year. When it
had been found that publication cost 30
much he concluded that Los Angeles
could not afford to spend that amount of
money. Besides, the purified sewage
water was not good for land. In order
to purify the sewage lime and alumina
had to be used, and these elements
make the water worse than pure water
for irrigation. He thought that purifca.
tion works should not be taken
into consideration. All that was
necessary was to strain the sewage. This
would be much better and cheaper. The
strain would prevent the floating and
heavy matter from being carried on to
the land, and the sewage thus strained,
if properly distributed over the surface
of the land, would be no nuisance.
Mr.. Herring maintained that statistics
showed that the sewage farms were
healthier than the cities from which the
sewage came. He instanced the sewer
farms of Berlin and Paris, each contain
ing 12,0 600 acres, and said that villages
had been located in the midst of the
farms, and the death rate in the villages
was only half as great as in the cities
had been proven to be no nuisance if it
duty of the city to keep it's system
so that everything would be swept
be at it's destination inside of twenty-four
hours or less here. If it is stored and
kept longer it ferments and sets the
whole Of the sewers smelling. For this
reason great deal of attention is paid
to building sewers smooth on the inside,
so that there shall be no cracks or
crevices to catch and hold the sewage.
When this is done, the sewers should be
flushed at intervals with large quantities
of water.
Again, the report recommended small
pipes instead Of brick sewers. With
this he did not agree. As to the econ
omy, that was simply q matter of calcu-
lation. 1t was well known that the
sewage should get into large sewers as
soon as possible. 1t was also
known that eewer two feet in
diameter would carry four times
as much water as sewer one
foot in diameter, and it was also mat
ter of calculation that it was cheaper to
build two.foot sewer than four one-foot
sewers. In Los Angeles alone the con-
veying of the sewage to big sewer
might be the saving Of $l00, 900. If the
money for the big sewers could not be
raised, then the next best thing should
be done. The sizs of the sewers was en-
tirely financial problem.
As to whether the sewers should be
brick or pipe, the statistics seemed to be
in favor Of brick, in contradiction to the
report Of the commission. Pipe sewers
had been used for forty yearsin England.
and there were no figures to show
absolutely that the death rate differed