Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-09-11
GARBAGE AND SEWAGE.
How Refuse 10 Disposed OF in Great European
Cities

| GAkBAGE AND SEWAGE.
How Refuse 10 Disposed OF in Great European
| Cities
To the Editor Of The Evening Star:
In connection with the discussion of the gar
page question have thought that a synopsis
| OF how this and similar matters are managed
In the principal cities Of Europe may be of in
terest at the present time, and therefore pre-
sent the following brief statement:
| In most of the large cities the street sweep
ings and garbage are utilized by being sub
Jected to treatment and then sold as fertilizer.
In Antwerp the street sweepings and refuse
pay all the expense of street cleaning, and In
| 1877 the receipts from that source amounted TO
S51 900. In Berlin, which is the fourth largest
city in Europe. the sewage is pumped through
pipes on to the land at average distance
! of eleven and half miles around the city.
| three-foot wrough.-iron pipes being used and
! the pumps lifting il thirty-six feet
One point of special interest to us is that in
that city, which. like ours. is the national capt.
tai, the national government has spent n large
! amount i'll the construction of parks and streets,
| and at the same time pays taxes on all the
property 1t owns. the same as citizens do on
\ theirs, each department of the government be-
ing taxed separately and paying its amount
| separately out of its annual appropriation
And, although that is a mo narchical govern
ment. the city has local popular government
elected by the property holders as, indeed. has
nearly every capital city in Europe. The city
\ government owns and runs the gas works the
| profits of which rs long ago as 1880 paid one
| twelfth of the total expenses of the city govern
ment, which at tina. time we're about 80, SOC, 600
per annum.
In brighton, Birmingham and Bradford the
| sewage Is treated with lime, the purified liquid
! being allowed to flow into the river or ocean,
the solid residue being sold and used as a
| fertilizer. Bradford pumping Its sewage ten
miles to the ocean.
At Carlisle the sewage is disinfected and then
| used TO lrrlSate the land and the same Lis done
at Coventry, it being carried three md bail
| miles from town for treatment.
| In Manchester water closets are prohibited.
pan closets being used instead, as in many
| cities on the continent. All refuse matter of
every kind Is cartcd to works outside of the
city, where it Is converted into Guano, about
1000 tons per month being produced. and
| which sells for over 80 per ton. The ashes sell
for =1.25 per ton and are used in making
mortar. In Frankfort the sewage is used for
| irrigating the land
| The most remarkable case Of this kind in the
| world probably is that OF Milan in Italy. where
the sewage is conducted in canals and sold to
| the farmers Mt cent meter The system "a
| said to have been in Use for several hundred
years and has proven exceedingly proftsble
| 1t Is stated ina. meadows thus irrlgBted pro
! duce SIX crops year, with ali average ne!
/ proht OF SZSJ per acre PEI aunum This Is no
! doubt due to the very dry and sunny climate,
/ which prodnces a yery rand avoporati,,p NJ
| the iiauid the amount OF sewage per acre rsed
| averaging 100 tons and in some instances
has reached $1,000. In the moist c.:mste of
| Grea: Britain this use o. sewage aa- not proven
| profitable, though used to some extent. 1t
| wouId seem thar this system might he odor+eJ
| with advantage kere. az .he sandy .rr.k faxms
| on the other side of the Eastern trancE. ,ex-
| tenalng from 5iaiensburg TO opposite Alex
| be immensely benefited by IL p-es1ma tha
! greatest objection wouId he .he urea+ amount
| Of rain water carried by the sewars Some
J time in the f8ture. when the ponr-l I, zion he
| comes more dense and land proportionataIr
! costly, it may be done Then, too, all the
| overlooked land along the bran.h will be re-
claimed and. in fact. become he most valuable
PITY il cannot be done now
| The most complete systems of sewage in ex-
| istence at the present time are doubtless those
| of London and Paris. London. with n popu-
| iation of between four and five millions has
\ spent about Sl75 OO0 900 on her sewers and the
| plant connected herewith the sewers amount
| ing to 500 miles in length thirteen wears ago.
| and of course have been increased since
| On the north side two interceptinp sewers
one on each side of the Thames receive the
| sewage from the lateral sewers and conduct it
into canals thirteen miles from the civ The
pumping stations have four engines of I25
horse power each, with chimneys $50 feet high.
Il the furnaces Delng connected WIN and made to
rentila,e the sewers The pumps lift the sew
| age eighteen feet into the canal. Eight miles
! below at the outlet, where the tide rises over
| twenty feet, is another pumping station with
! four engines of 200 horse power. which pump
il at high tide nineteen feet high into a reser-
] yoir which has three compartments of six
and one-half acres each, built of hard brick
laid in cement, with flag-stone bottom all
all covered with an arched roof resting on piers
and covered with cement and asphalt and about
two feet OF EARTH with a capacity of 81, 600 600
gallons.
On the north side there are three large inter-
cepting sewers, some of which arc far below
tide. with tunnels carried through the base
ments of buildings and an iron yiaduct $50
feet long crossing over the underground rail-
way. These three sewers are connected and
provided with u pumping station which lifts
the sewage nineteen feet into a sewer at a
higher level From Westminster bridge to
Black Friars bridge one of these sewers is in the
Thames embankmeut and passes in a tunnel
under the river Lea and at a point below con-
! meets with the others by pumping station.
which lifts the sewage thirty-six feet high. at
this station there are eight engines OF Iia horse
power each. The sewage on this side also is
emptied into a covered reservoir of 50, 00G, 900
gallons capacity, from which. after being puri-
fled, il Is emptied into the river the same as ON
the other side. At the reservoirs il passes over
| gra.ings which intercept solids there being no
| less than three cart loads per day Of corks
| taken from one OF them, which MAJ be taken
as a slight indication of the drinking abits of