The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1897-02-26

PASSAIC SEWERAGE.
Engineers Divide the River
Drainage Area Into
Two Districts.
PROBLEMS OF DISPOSITION
Tidal Force at Kill von Kull-
Utilization Of Refuse for
Fertilizing.
PROBLEMS OF DISPOSITION

The following is the engineers report
written by Messrs. A Ffteley and Charles
p. Jacobsen, and appended to the report
of the Passaic Pollution Commission pub
sshed in. THE News" of February "a.
The first impression derived from tht
consideration of the subject at manu- A
It's magnitude.
The territory which. under your direc'
tions, IS to be considered, is very large
addition to the sewag from the FasSaf
Watershed, the drainage of the Hacken'
sack River Basin has also its outlet II
Newark Bay. 1t must be femeInperee
also that the sewage of West Orange
South Orange. Milburn, lrv1ngcon ana al
Joining towns, and of Elizabeth, may De
ner, and that the generally large con.
sumption of water by the: inhabitants
adds to the complication and cost OF tne
proposed undertaking. Another elemenl
of the problem consists in the necessity
of enacting Laws which will satisfy the
many communities Jointly interested, ano
in the apportionment of the cost OF con-
structicn and maintenance of SUCH sys'
tenn or systems of sewerage as may pc
come common to several communities
Moreover. tnere may arise some inserslaae
A study of these complications IS not
however, within our province, and We
have. under your directions, connneu our r.
selves to the engineering questions al
hand, considering each community separ-
ately, as far only as its special features
demand it, and otherwise treating tne
whole territory under CONSIDERATION, as
one district.
The Watershed of the Passaic River
which We are to consider. has an area o.
nine hundred ond~ forty-seven (94D square
miles. 1t is shown on the smaller mai
appended hereto. The upper part, the
larger, above Paterson, does not contain
1-- 1;+x~ - rn-n.itonn onA ifs nnnIlla-
ton is much more scattered, the greater
part being of an agricultural or mount
ainous description. The higher portions
of the Watershed, especially, wnlcn cover
$50 square miles, are for a large portion
of his area covered with forest. A num-
Der of places. however, are butt on me
les. and their sewage, especially II con:
centrated and emptied therein, wonid
eventually create pollution which, al
though diminished by subsequent oliu-
ton and by aeration, might cause the
stream to carry below germs OF lniec-
tious diseases.
to collect in sewers the refuse of all such
scattered communities and to conduct II
TO tide-water, as the expense attendlng
the construction of such a system OF sew
should be established on the River, above
which the disposition of the sewage
which may differ with the various local
conditions of each community. Prece-
dents exist for the treatment of sewage
in communities of moderate sizes, by IT.
rigation on land, by filtering or by chemi-
cal treatment. but 1t has not been con-
sidered practicable under the present
circumstance TO make a study of each
Confning ourselves consequently to
the general statement just made in re-
gerd to the upper part Of the Passaic
between it and the lower part of the Pas
sale Watershed on the upstream BOUND
tina point down extends what has been
termed on the large map appended here
to, the Lower Passaic Sewerage District,
the publication Of which has been the
main subject of the present study.
The Lower Passaic Sewerage District
extends over parts of the counties OF
PasSa- s;.I bergen; Ess ek paaned a Jug 10 o . /,
ed on the west by the eaSterly slope or
the Orange Girst) Mountain and the east
erly divide of the Railway and Elizabeth
River Watersheds. and on the east by the
ridge between the PasSaic River and the
Hackensack Meadows. Z.
As considered in his report, the Dis
ties n villages: the City of Paterson
situated on both sides of the Passaic
River: Clifton. a hamlet in Aquackanonck
ma in Aquackanonck Township: Franklin
Township Qncluding Franklin. Nutley and
A~yondale). M%ontclair. Glen Ridge. Bloom.
Orange: the City of Newark and a part
pf Clinton Township; all on the right
bank of the River.
trict. includes Garfield and Lodi and
smaller parts of Hasbrouck Heights.
woodbridge and Carlstadt in Saddle River
Of the Boroughs of East Rutherford and
Of Rutherford; Lyndhurst in MO Town
ship; the Township of Kearny (Arling-
ton} and the Boroughs of East Newark
The Passaic River flows through the
District. dividing the same into two parts,
On the right bank; the area Of the wafer
shed of the Lower Passaic Sewerage Dis
trlct being 67.63 square miles on the right
nank;; arc 15.5o square miles on the left;
A1ter moving over the Passaic Falls in
the City. of Paterson. where the river
freaks through a depression In the First
1t takes a circuitous course,
surrounding the greater part of the city
2f Paterson on three sides. to Dundee
Dam where it Is held back. forming
At this place. part of the water is divert
ed through the Dundee Canal, FURNISHING
The w~ater-power of the Dundee Land and
From the dam. the river flows in a
.nuoneriy direction for about two miles.
when it again takes a winding
sitgs of Passaie. a no5nf tbe 1pp resames tbs 53s
,outherly direction to the CITY Of New.
ark and to Newark Bay.
oSSIic Is d tlQdl river. the high
:ide rising to a point about six hundred
,eet below Dundee Dam, distant 1917 miles
rom Newark Bay. The mean range of
'ide is 40 feet in Newark Bay.
The river is ~navigable as far as Pas
.alc- Ihe total distance from the Great
FAILS in Paterson to Newark Bay Is %
The flow of the Passafc River is very
7ariable; the statistics of its flow have
been studied and published bv the Geo
ceicsl Department of New Jersesf, es-
oeciallv in its report of 1894. The NTH
nun flow of the river is stated to he's 120
,uhic feet per second, which VIII DE
s~radually reduced as the stream is drawn
or public water supplies.
At such times. the sewage daily emp
led into the river. forms a large part Of
he total flow. In other parts of the year.
especially in the spring. the volume of
he stream; with its water shed OF e47
iauare miles. is much larger, hut this
arger flow and even the freshetts VI hicIl
iccur from time to time, are inssuffit.ient