The record-union., 1891-07-13
SEWAGE DISPOSAL.
Interesting Paper on the Subject
By a Sanitarian.
The Workings Of the Precipitation
system at Wimbledon, England
The Effluent Can Be Advantage
ously Applied to Irrigation.

sey) Press, edited by F. Reid Miller. son
OF Frank Miller, the Cashier OF the Ma
tional Bank of D. Q. Mills & Co. of this
city, contains a letter from correspond
ent signing himself ''Sanitarlan,' which
will be found full OF interest to Sacrament
tans just at this time. 1t answers fully
the questions propounded by several OF
our correspondents lately. The corre-
spondent says:
In recent issue / pointed out 10 your
readers that the sewage plan proposed
/ by the city Of Orange, as shown by their
recent pamphlet, was crude i'll concep-
non, 1oollsh as an economic measure, and
/ IN open violation OF the sanitary laws of
! the state.
Let me state that there are always two
! great PRINCIPLES to be considered in any
sewage system. The first is efficiency,
the second IS economy. In an efficient
/ sewage system the waste must be disn-
/ fected, deodori2ed, purified and clarified.
/ 1t should also be utilized in some way.
/ And there are & number Of methods by
which this Is being done, abroad or in our
own country
have had several opportunities OF
seeing one OF these methods III practical
/ operation at Wimbledon, England, and
J rs tue process IS an American enc, my in
teresU was naturally increased. Itis we'll
known that many efforts have been made
OF laTo years in the direction of purifying
and uatl2Ing sewage, and impure liquids,
s,:ch as the waste from chemical and other
factories.
The separation of the suspended mat
ters is accomplished either by collecting
the liquid in tanks, allowing time for the
subsidouce of the solids or by fiItering
/ through suitable mediums.
If the subsistence is slow. owing to the
fact that tho specific gravity of the sus-
/ pended solids is nearly equal 10 that of
tie liquid IL which they are suspended,
then the process Of subsistence is acceler-
several weil-Inown Substances that have
now long been used for such purposes as,
for example, lime or alum. This procc-
durc Il known Us precipitation, but the
fauit with the Older method has been
that this process only throws down linn
tied portion of the GeleteriouS matter.
The eiliuent would, therefore carry off
with 1t many substances that were harm
! tul from sanitary point of view. This
was the condition of things in 1884. when
q Royal Commission on metropolitan
| sewage discharge printed its report.
Since then, however, under the impet-
us, doubtless, of the River Pollution Bill.
passed by Parliament in 1886, many in
ventors have been at work, and ii seems
that i satisfactory solution of the question
has been reached, though the processes
may be still further improved, perhaps,
or their utility extended in some re-
spects.
AT any rate, the "Amines'' process, as
l saw it in the autumn of 1889, seemed to
be the perfection of plans. Invented by
Mr.. Wollheim, New Yorker, it obtains
its name from making use OF certain or
ganic bases belonging to the chemical
group OF amines-a ammonia compounds.
The modus operandi is as follows The
amiRes are used either pure or in the
form of anime salts, or in one of the nu-
merouS substances containing them, and
they are used in combination with lime.
preferably the milk oflime. The proper
tions used vary, according to the nature
OF the sewage.
At present herring brine is the most
abundant, cheapest and most convenient
substance that contains the amines It's
price is nominal, because the empty her.
ring barrels can be obtained in Holland
at nominal price. This brine is intro
duced into the freshly made milk of lime
of the consistency OF thin cream. 1t is
Immediately decomposed, and a very sol
uble, new gaseous reagent is evolved, to
which the inventor has given the name
| "aminol." 1t has peculiar briny odor.
similar to that Of the sea breeze blowing
over seaweed, as on a rocky coast at low
tlde. Ih1S reagent Is a very powerful
disinfectant, When introduced into sew
age it rapidly destroys all the micio-or-
ganisms that are associated with putre-
faction or disease. The further steps in
the process are described in all English
journal, August 6, 1889, as follows:
The dlSintectant mixture is added to
the sewage as issuing from the sewers,
and is thoroughly intermiXed with the
sewage by ordinary mechanical appli-
ances. The effect is almost instantaneous.
BY the action OF the lime violent floccula-
/ ton is set up, and the suspended matters
| tend TO subside. simultaneously the pu-
trid smell of the sewage is replaced by
| the peculiar brine odor Of the reagent In
this state the sewage flows into settling
tanks. There the subsistence of the sol
ids takes place at rapid rate. When it
! is complete (in depth of six feet it takes
only an Eour) the brilliantly clear and
bright supernatant liquid eff1uent, COM
pietely deodorized and disinfected, may
be discharged with perfect safety. To
fish life 1t Is lnnocuouS when diluted with
more than ten times it's volume OF water.
but it contains in solution fertilizing
principles, and it may, therefore, be adj
vantageously applied to irrigation. The
preclpitate lsludge] remaining at the bot
tom of the tanks IS also of the same briny
odor as the effiuent, and free from any
tendency to putreiaction. 1t may, conse-
quently, be left exposed, without the least
risk of nuisance, for any length of time,
even in midsummer. 1t is brownish yell
low in color and lacks entirely the Shiny
appearance of ordinary sludge Its auan-
tity does not exceed that resulting from
other treatments. The manurial value
OF the sludge is stated to be somewhat
above that of the best farm-yard manure
When the fresh sludge resulting from the
first treatment is fortified by the addition
OF one-tiith of the quantity of disinfecting
mixture originally used, another volume
/ of sewage equal to the first will be treated
! by 1t with like effect, and the same oper-
alton may be performed a third time after
the atiiuent from the second has been
drawn off. This feature reduces the final
cost to nearly one-half of what it would
otherwise be. The uses to which the
/ sludge may be finally put are many.
/ When taken from the tanks it contains
over so per cent. of moisture. After
/ draining 1t of large portion of the same
IN special settling tanks it will be availa-
| BILE for filling up low-lying lands. If it is
TO be used as manure 1t is reduced in filter
/ presses in solid cake, but it can be still
1 further reduced in bulk and weight by
air drying and crushing TO a fine powder.
There are other valuable principles
/ beside the manurial contained in the cake
/ and also in the powder. 1t is believed,
] nom experiments now in progress, that
means VIII soon be found for extracting
and utilizing the same with a fair margin
OF profit The cost of the process as re-
! CARDS materials used naturally varies
with the conditions and requirements in
each particular case. In round figures it