Sacramento daily record-union., 1889-09-12
DISPOSAL OF OUR SEWAGE.

DR.. Rauch, Secretary of the State Boar,
of Health of Illinois, was sent to Europe b,
that body to study the drainage and sew
age systems. He has returned and is t,
submit an exhaustive report. From
brief interview with him in Chicago, somt
Interesting facts were obtained. He mad,
thorough examination of the drainag,
systems OF all the great cities of Europe
and expresses the belief that he has faith
omed the whole subject so far as observa
tIon is concerned. One of the surprises o
ms report will be the assertion that Franc,
is much behind Germany and England il
the matter of sewage disposal Paris is ,
most eleanly city without, but within it i.
vile. The sewerage system draws only the
rainfall; nine-tenths of the houses have
cesSpools beneath them. In spite of this
ne found the Seine as bad as the Chicago
river, and that is saying good deal A
matter that comes home to us is his com.
ment concerning these cesspools:
The Paris death rate is higher than it is in
London, and l attribute it wholly TO the cess
pools under the houses. Two years sgo there
was an ordinance against allowing any more Of
the house sewage to reach the sewers. From an
englueets standpoint, the Paris sewers are per
Iect but from a sanitary view they are the worst
KIND. They keep them beautifully clean, but il
them and found they not only carried of the
water but were used for water pipes, electric
wires, compressed air, etc.
DR.. Rauch believes, as we will some day
be compelled to confess in California
where the cesspool system SO generally
prevails, that a worse plan could not be
adopted, since it is a successful scheme to
poison the soil and make it give off nox-
ious va oors 10 breed disease. He exam.
ined the sewage farm system that was SC
extensively discussed in Sacramento few
Yeas ago:
The best farm found was at Berlin. where
lfOOO acres are in use. great deal of stuff is
grown, species of wire grass being particu.
larry luxurious: 1t is fed TO COWS. / drank
some OF their milk, and could discover nothing
Objectionable. They have here both broad irri'
cation aud intermittent filtration. The systen,
is success here, but they have the ground.
The sewage is delivered TO the farms by fire
pumping stations in Berlin II was nuisance
at hrst but not SO Objectionable now. believe
tue cpSt was eO,UO0,UOO francs.
In England the same systems are a success at
Briminsham and the London stations at Cross
ness and Croydon. All attempts to use the
slncge at these places, however have been fail
ntes. The London Metropolitan Board spent
tSO0JO ~ an attempt to prepare the sludge for
fertlllzlug. The farmers would not only not
buy II, but they would not accept it as a sratu-
lty AT CroSsuess the most interesting method
OF al is being used in an attempt to decompose
the sewage by electricity. So far as l could
observe 1t was successful but am not able TO
Know positively until | result of the
anaiySis OF the water that remains. At Corydon
the work is done chemically At the Crossness
works observed that the Thames was just as
foul as the Chicago river, and it seems to be
the best they can do. The sludge is carried
sixty miles to the sea.
DR.. Raueh said this question was attract
ing wide attention in Europe "No less
than three hundred systems of sewage dis
posal are patented. Many of these were
suggested 10 me, but did not interest my
self in any but the electrical scheme |
think there may he something in that"
The sewage farm system, he declares, will
not do for Chicago for two reasons; she
has not the land and cannot get it in a
proper locality; secondly, the enormous
cost to convey the sewage to point where
land caa be had. The economic reason
operates precisely that way for Sacra-
mento, and for that reason NANNY the
suggestion to try the system here was re.
jected by public opinion. But there is a
tried system that would work well here
and though it is not referred TO in the in.
ferview with DR.. Rauch, it certainly will
be treated by him in his report-the sys
tenn of cremation. 1t is possible for a city
such as this TO gather by sewers and by
carriage, all its sewage at one point on the
city's borders, and treat it by heat, tht
best deodorizer and disinfectant known
unless the electrical experiments referred
TO prove superior. The erection of furnace.
as not a costly matter and the fuel oues
ton is not one of difficulty, since half ol
more of the fuel is furnished by the sewag,
itself the street sweepings, and the allie,
gatherings, to say nothing of the vegetable
refuse Of the households Of the city. Hal
or more of the gases evolved in tn,
drying process are consumed in tk,
furnaces, and such as pass off do S,
through a lofty chimney into space wher,
nature resolves them into harmlessness
Under the cremation system there is abso
solGte disposal of the sewage, and the of
fensive matter tina; under the cesspool sys
tern we deposit in the earth to pollute th
soil, and charge it with noxious gases tina
1t gives off constantly, creating sicknes
and defying the operation of disinfectant.
s because the porous character of the sol
renders the dissemination of the evil S
broai and rapid With cremation Q
sewage in practice, we would find, instea,
of the "sludge" that the European farme
rejects because of its ofienSiyeness, a clean
ferlilizing and wholly unofensive ash, tha
viii be sought for. With proper crema
.tion system, only street drainage waite
should 60 TO one set of sewers, and as tina
drainage is harmless, it matters little wha
becomes o. it, A distinct set of sewer
should be used through which to float Q
to draw the refuse and more solid matter
But with cartsge and the present sewe
system it would be possible for such cit
as Sacramento to get along very well for
long time, and We believe that it would b