The Big Stone post. (Big Stone Gap, Va.) 1890-1892, 1891-02-27
THE sEwEsAe.s QUESTION.
From Engineer Bell on
its Importance and the Necessity
for pro,npt .iction.

| for arO:Bpt .AEtAOH
To the Editor Of The Post:
The sewerageand drainage OF Big Stone
Gan should be taken into consideration at
once.
To form definite idea Of the require
ments necessary to provide this fast de-
welcoming town with all that is embodied
under this caption, shall be the purpose
of this article 4 false conception regards
sewerage and drainage rs one and the
same thing, so that we must get firmly
fixed in our minds. the distinction. Sew
crage implies system of sewers or chan
ncls for the conveyance of sewage, which
is water holding in suspension and solution
ingredients that do not belong to it as
water, which render it Objectionable to
sight and smell, injurious to health and
unfit for the domestic uses of man.
Drainage means the removal of the
excess of surface or ground water Pre-
Dictated, as for instance, house drainage
NAV rightly be interpreted to mean the
drainage Of the wastes from the house,
which in reality, is sewage, but rs applied
to n town we are TO understand drainage
TO refer to the drawing off Of all surplus
water from the surface or ground and the
lowering of the ground water level
Natural drainage as applied frequently to
a town or residence site if good is under
favorable conditions of soil, sufficiently
we'll adapted to habitation, without the
application of artificial means of drainage
but when We have to lay out town and
to develop an extent of property Tor
business and residence purposes with a
view TO the formation of scctan1uIar lots
and streets, the consequence is that the
natural drainage has been INSTRUCTED and
artificial means must be resOrtcd to, III
order TO Get rid of storm waters from the
surface of the streets and 10 maintain q
dry sub-soil for our buildings. The sur
face washngs from Il clean surface and
the drainage water from pure soil are III
no way deletcrious to the public health
and point of discharge, for the disposal
of the same, may be within the corporate
) limits On the other hand soil may be-
come saturated with filth by the downfall
of rain on the deposit of refuse animal
aud vegetable matter.
Big Stone Gap is tayorably located for
maintaining perfect and tiStactory
system of sewerage and drainage, ana the
: sooner some arrangements are made Tor
: the design and construction of Il good
: system. so much sooner will public atten-
ton lie drawn TO the fact, hat it is in
tended to have public health leading
factor in the development of the city, and
] in the words of Americas first great
D philosophers public health is public
0 wealth"
Many methods and means have been APP
piled to the removal Of sewage matter
, from towns, and practice has demonstrate
ed that the one which, when efficiently
: carried out, removes at once and COM
:, pletc!v from the vicinity of habitatlOn,
4 the various sorts OF refuse in the most ex-
e petitions manner, is the water car
' riage system.
Bv the admission Of rainfall into the
couduits the system is made to answer the
purposes of both sewerage and drainage.
and is then termed the combined system o.
, sr,rerage Without the admission OF rain
f fall to the conduits the method is called
the separate System of Se"erage.
Both the combined and separate sys-
: tenn have their advocates, those OF the
former taking the ground that "thc rain
fall collected in the cutters of 4 city,
:. charged as it frequently is with atmos-
: phcric and other impurities, differs on
y ANALYSES in no essential from house
:, sewage" but on The other hand when we
; take into consideration the unsettled
r times or duration of RAINFALL with the III
creased dimensions of the sewers, rendered
necessary to meet TIE additional demand
upon their carrying capacity in times OF
d storms. not only increasing the expense.
5 but further than that, dimtntshiHG me
: rnlue Of the sewers cleansing
channels OF discharge for sewage under
) ordinary conditions Of flow, it would seem
> far better to have clean streets and self
: cleansing sewers at all times. than to al
: low of such an accumulation Of filth az
: shall involve the necessity OF greatly in
u creased cost 10 the sewerage system
tFUndcr most conditions, with clean streets
( storm waters may lie allowed to flow on
: the surface along the street cutters
II properly constructed, and carried directly
into the river at Il convenient point
Where the grade Of the streets may DC
= such as to incur liability to flood 1T street
Il crossings, to d>commode traffic Of any
7 kind, separate underground condu!ts can
be provided.
: The separate system Of sewerage pro-
c yidcs for the carriage and disposal of such
: an amount Of sewage rs is measured by
about two thirds of the quantity of water
supplied to the town, the remaining one
third being absorbed in the extinguist-
ment of fires, street and garden washes
: fountains, street sprinklng and building
purposes.
The bulk of the sewage is not deliver
ed with any regularity, but about one hall
i OF it is discharged in from six TO eight
hours Of the twcntytour, so that the size
of the sewer pipes must he proportional
accordingly and dependent upon the
t velocity of flow it is possible to give the
) sewage bv greater or less inclination OF
! the pipes, with view to rendering them
. scltclcansing or free from liability to stop
page By the adhesion of sediment.
< The final disposal of the sewage is OF
n great Importance, not only to the resi-
i dents of Big Stone Gap but, further than
I that, allied interests and kindred feeling
urge consideration Of the disposal of ii
without injury to the rights of others
Provided We can be assured that the
az IL 10 nta,AIiaA