The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-07-05
THE SEWERAGE QUESTION.
Some Suggestions in Reference to III,
Bilbo Canal

]
the attention Of its citizens for quite a
number Of years and is as far from a
practical solution now as ever.
The schemes proposed at one time and
| another by various engineers have set
| tied the question for the time being IN
| paper but after a little discussion the
matter has been dropped for one reason
or another-principally the one of ex-
| pense.
The ability of an engineer or his scheme
| is to be judged by the results he can OBJ
/ tain at the lowest cost and at the same
| time fulfilling all the necessary reouire-
| mentS for the work. So the outlet for
| SaYannah's sewage should not be Judged
IN proportion toits cost alone, but whether
the ends obtained by the expenditure are
an equivalent for the expense incurred.
| Inc present outlet for Savannah's
sewage is at Bolton street near Paulsen
| street where it discharges from a brick
! sewer, feet 3 inches in diameter, into an
! open canal known as Bilbo canal.
The ordinary dry weather flow of sew
! age would not more than fill a 24-inch
! pipe drain.
! plank floor over which the matter runs
! with good velocity until it reaches
! Gwlnnett street, where it enters the
| canal proper, which from there to the
river is simply plain dug canal with
| very uneven bottom, which at low water
! leaves large portion of the surface to
| decompose in the air. That the canal in
It's present form IS an element prediudi-
c1al to the health of the neighborhood
through which it runs cannot be denied,
! should the immediate surroundings be
! covered by dwellings, whilst of course
an intervening space of about half mile
OF fresh air would greatly dilute any
l,noxious element that might arise
That gasses do arise from the canal
can be seen at any time by the bubbles
| constantly arising to the surface along its
| length. The fact that the cows of the
neighborhood can be seen at all times
wallowing in its filth and drinking its
water would point to an ever threatening
element of danger to the health of the
| community at large The various
schemes proposed to change this outlet
have all failed on one point at least
| that of expense.
The idea of carrying the Bolton street
sewer to Warsaw river, whilst having the
advantage of being the nearest route to
| salt water, has objections.
1t is a mistaken idea to suppose that
| Immediately on contact with salt water
! the sewage loses all it's inherent injurious
properties. Whilst this may be true of
! the LIQUID parts and so long as the solid
]
matter deposited along the banks will not
be long before making its presence known
to the neighborhood
| Whilst Warsaw river is bold sheet of
| salt water, still it has the objection of
| having no head water, and to discharge
! into it is the same as discharging into a
| creek, the only current formed being that
of the rise and fall of the tide. With no
head water to accelerate its movements
and carry 1t out to sea, any matter held
| in suspension might migrate up and down
the river according to the tide, for days,
| until at length deposited on some adioin-
| ing marsh to decompose. One has only
| to notice the movements of the dead
rushes and marsh grass TO see what
would become OF the suspended matter in
| the sewage.
| Apart from this the great expense at
tending the construction of such a sewer
| would form a strong objection
The various schemes suggested TO carry
! the outlet to Fort Jackson have the adj
4 vantage of discharging into the Savannah
river whose head waters are sufficient 1T
most times to almost counteract the eff
! feet of the tide, but the expense of con-
STRUGGLING large outlet for that distance
I is again an objection.
The plan suggested to carry the outlet
! over the bed of the Casey canal to Yer
non river may sound plausible and has the
merit of separating the sewage from
| the storm water, but it would only be
tolerated as last resort to carry a sewer
! a distance of over seven miles from this
city to an outlet. The expense of such a
plan would be out of all proportion to its
merits.
r Apart from the objection of expense.
there is a more serious one against War
saw and Vernon river routes. Whilst
you would relieve the immediate vicinity
OF Savannah from an Objectionable canal,
YOU would in either of the cases make
your outlet in proximity to some of the
! suburban resorts. Above all things it
is desirable for Savannah to do
! all she can to promote the healthfulness
of these suburban places of resort and
recreation, and not to irremediably injure
them by pouring out at their doors the
sewage of the city, or to turn their present
! healthful streams into reservoirs of filth
! The Savannah river is the natural outlet
for the city's drainage 1t is bold stream
with strong currents, caused by an i'm
! mense head-water always rushing sea-
ward The injection of Savannahs sew
age into this stream is in comparison so
small and is so quickly and thoroughly
diluted as to render its presence scarcely
perceptible within few feet Of its out
| let.
Now that the city no longer obtains its
/
on that score can exist.
The lower portion of the Bilbo canal,
from the river to Wheaton street, from
the fact of its being in reach of the tidal
influences, is much less offensive than the
upper part, where the tidal water rarely
reaches. 1t is the upper part, from
! Wheaton to Bolton streets, that claims
our attention now and which it is so de-
sirable should be remedied. The cry has
been to cover it in or extend the Bolton
street sewer. Let us do it the most eff
| Gent and economical way.
To simply cover up the present canal
would be at best but a temporary expedi-
! ent, whilst no great success could be eX-
pected from a sanitary standpoint.
TO carry out the Bolton street sewer
would owing to certain irregular forma-
tions in the intervening land, be impracti-
cable, apart from the fact that the Bolton
| street sewer is much too large for any re-
ouirements needed from it.
The practical and economical solution,
with view to permanency, is to provide
/ q pipe drain for the carrying off of the
every day sewage and make provision
for storm water overflow.
The amount of sewage leaving the
Bolton street sewer in dry weather would
not more than fill A-inch pipe laid at
! the same grade as the sewer.
NV plan, in detail, would be to lay
| 3O-inch pipe drain from Bolton street to
Wheaton street, at the same grade as the
! !