Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-04-24

recently finished a main sewer in this
valley and down the valley of Piney branch
as far as Rock creek. OF course,
this removes the difficulty for the people
of Mount Pleasant, Holmead. &c, but 1
would call your attention to the fact that,
after all, what we have done is only what
the house owner did who drained his own
sewer into his neighbours back yard. For
we have but taken the sewage of Mount
Pleasant, Holmead, &c, and drained IT
into the brook behind Washington and
Georgetown. If this is allowed to continue
We will soon convert the upper part of
Rock creek into an open sewer. as we
already have the lower part and our beau
tiful Rock Creek Park, with its popular
adjunct, the Geological Park, will soon
be redolent of breezes that will make even
the foxes in the Zoo feel outdone and
tempt the visitors to retire to the mon
key house for fresh air. 1t would seem
as If 1t really required argument to
show that this ought not to be. and yet
we have been asking for years funds to
construct a sewer to protect the upper
part of Rock creek from pollution, and
have failed this year heretofore, in
spite Of the fact that this sewer was begun
five years ago and $4,000 have been ex-
pended in constructing about third OF 1t,
which cannot be utilized until the whole
sewer is finished; it is a sewer more than
5000 feet long, badly needed, but lying idle,
never having carried quart OF sewage.
1t is as If man had bought his lot and
built his house to the second story and
then slept outdoors for five years rather
than spend the money to put the roof on.
THE fourth basin is small one In
Georgetown, which disposes of its sewage
by draining into the Potomac.
Drains Into Rock Creek.
.The fifth, also a small one in George
town, drains it's sewage into Rock creek
below street; and this part of the creek
also receives the sewage from the sixth
basin, which is large one including near
ly all of the northwest section of Washing
ton. L need not dilate upon the condition
of this part of Rock creek, it is familiar to
all. The creek is damned at It's mouth,
the ordinary discharge of the stream flow
ing out into the Potomac over the top OF
the dam. OF course the quiet water above
the dam makes an admirable settling basin,
| in which the solid matter brought down by
the sewers quietly settles upon the bottom
| of the stream, there to putrefy and give
off gases which faint the atmosphere Of
the whole neghborhood-even a mile away
from the creek at times.
1.-The seventh basin is another large one,
extending from n street to beyond the Sol
diers Home and from 14th street northwest
! to the Bladensburg road. Much of this ba-
sin is thickly settled. Part of it's sewage
drains into an adjoining basin through the
Tiber sewer and the remainder reaches
twenty-two-foot trunk sewer on Florida
| avenue and discharges into brook, which,
after running more than mile through
swamp, finally reaches the Eastern
branch. When the branch Is high the sew
spreads out over the swamp 1t is, of
course, only a question of time before these
fats will have become unwhoiesome in the
extreme. Still, matters stand today,
this is probably the least Objectionable of
all our main sewer outfalls, the sewage
of this basin being much diluted by several
large brooks which are tributary to the
Florida avenue sewer.
1.-The eighth basin includes the area of the
city lying to the east of South Capitol street
and North Carolina avenue. The sewage
l. hr,fv nnhn he LTnCf lrota oh,
through a number of small main sewers;
and in like manner the ninth basin, a small
one in South Washington, drains into the
Washington channel through ten or more
sewers of moderate size. Neither the East
ern branch nor the Washington channel
have a sufficient flow of water to make 1t
safe to discharge any large amount of sew
age into them.
1.-The tenth basin includes the heart of
the city from the old Observatory grounds
to Iowa Circle and east as far as 9th street
northwest. All of the sewers of this Sec
ton drain into a trunk sewer on b street;
and that empties at 18th street and Vir-
ginia avenue into an open drain called the
b street outlet canal which conducts the
seYagts across the flats to the Potomac.
TRfs ANAL is about two-thirds of a mile
long and 100 feet wide.
The james Creek Canal.
FINALLY, the eleventh basin is another
| large one. which includes the rest of the
thickly settled portion of the city, extending
from 9th street west to It'll street east. The
sewage of this locality flows to the Tiber
sewer a trunk sewer 80 feet wide, con-
! structed in the bed of the old Tiber creek
| This sewer discharges into the head of the
James Creek canal at 1St and South Capitol
streets. This canal is another open drain
similar to the B street outlet canal, but
even worse; 1t is nearly a mile and half
| long, 20 feet wide and about feet deep.
Like the b street outlet canal,i has ordinari-
! ly almost no current. the tide rises and falls
| in it, that part of the time what current
there is, is actually upstream. Both of these
! canals are practically open stagnant cess
| pools, their bottoms several feet thick with
| putrefying masses of fetid matter. Having
| no water-tight bottoms, they naturally pol
| lutte the soil around them.
Il recently had a complaint from house
| owner in one of these localities, that there
was stream of water rising in the cellar
| of his house. He had tried every means of
! finding out where this stream came from.
/ He finally collected a sample of it and took
| ii to a chemist in one of the departments,
who analysed 1t and pronounced Ii sewage
| OF course, the owner naturally concluded
/ that his premises were being invaded by
! leak from the nearest sewer. On investi-
4 CATION, however, 1t turned out that the leak
/ came from the service pipe of his neighbour
/ II was pure Potomac water fresh from the
| main, but the soil through which 1t per-
| colated was so full of pollution that by the
! time the water reached the surface in the
| cellar of the complainant it had acquired
| the characteristics of sewage.
! 1T would be remarkable, indeed, If such