The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-11-20
PAGES 9 TO 10.

the CITY to wilmington river by gravity.
1t will be necessary to establish a pump
ing station at the well into which the
main sewers discharge, and to force the
entire flow through an iron pipe to point
near where the Thunderbolt road crosses
the Coast Line railway. From this point
the sewage will flow by gravity to Will
mington river, first through $3.50 feet of
42-inch brick sewer and then through
$50 feet of S5-inch iron pipe. This iron
pipe will be under pressure at high tide
ana Will work under a SUFFICIENT head TO
secure the proper discharging capacity
and self-cleansing current.
The accompanying specifications and
contract have been carefully prepared,
with view of securing the best character
OF work and materials economical and
substantial construction and economical
and efficient operation. The system will
be capable of expansion TO meet the rap
idly growing needs of the city until pop
ulaton of at least 100000 is reached,
The details of the pumping sta
tons have not been worked
out as 1t Is practically inn
possible to determine them properly with
out having their exact location fixed, and
because, in any event, this is a speciar
class of work not directly in line with the
construction of the sewers themselves. IL
they are to be built, this can best be done
under separate contracts foE the building
of such houses and the installation OF
such machinery as may be necessary with
the result that the whole system will be
brought sooner INTO use than If this work
were made part of the general contract.
The cost of operating a pumping station
for handling ali the sewage through an
outlet TO the Wilmington river will be
about $1,000 per year, which capitalized at
) per cent, would be equal TO $4,000 orig
inal cost, in addition to tie cost of the
pumping stations.
There is one mart Of the subject cOncnrn-
ing which 1t is essential for me TO make a
positive recommendation and to give my
reasons therefor; that is the subject of
nnal disposition. l have gone carefully
over every consideration that presents it.
self in connection with this subject, and
/ recommend positively and without hest
tation the discharge of all of the sewage
collected by this system into the Savannah
river.
In 1885 l recommended distant point OF
disposal because the water of this river
within reach of the tidal movement was
then used as source of domestic supply.
Under such circumstances the introduce
ton OF sewage of even a small amount
would have been dangerous, That condi-
ton has now passed and II Will not return.
We now need consider only the questions
Of dilution and oxidation. Savannah river
has an average tidal flow in front Of tho
exchange of one and half million cubic
feet per minute. The average fresh water
flow from the upper river Is about two
thirds of a million cubic feet per minute.
The minimum fresh water flow is about a
quarter OF a million cubic feet per min
ute
Taking into account the large number
Of houses occupied by persons of limited or
moderate means, whose use of water is not
lavish IL would be very liberal indeed to
fix the daily consumption of water In any
such way as to reach the sewers at am
average of forty gallons per person. This
would give q daily flow from popular
ton of 100000 OF four million gallons. II
we assume that one-half Of this will be
dischal ged, in eight hours, we have
maximum flow of two hundred and fifty
thousand gallons per hour, or four thous-
and, one hundred and sixty-six gallons per
minute. This would about fill a thirty.
inch pipe with fall of three and half
feet to the mile 1t amounts to about
FIVE hundred and nfty-1ve cubic feet per
minute.
1t was found. by the average OF the
analysis collected by the Mas
sachusetts board of health that
one-thousand parts of sewage contain
nine hundred and ninety-eight parts OF wa
ter one part of mineral matter and one
part of organic matter. According to this
the amount of sewage discharged at Sa-
Vannah In one minute would deliver half
a cubic foot of organic matter already diff
fused and dissolved in a flow of great vol
ume. The water containing this one half
cubic foot of organic matter would be
mingled with the enormous volume above
referred to. The disproportion is SO vast
that we need not consider anything be-
yond the oxidizlng power of the river it,
self which is more than ample TO insure a
complete and inoffensive final disposition
for all time. 1t would be as nothing COM
pared with the amount of the impurities i'm
the sewage tank ef1uent of London now
delivered into the Thames with perfect Inn
punity.
l have no data from which to make close
calculations as to the relative volumes of
flow at Savannah and at New York, but
the harbor of New York receives the sew
age of about three and half millions per-
sons and its two rivers come together at
the battery and its best ana most popular
public bath Is fixed at this point.
The suggestion has been made that in
your city the accumulation of fecal mat
ter on the bank of the river, on piers and
on vessels lying at the wharves will in
time constitute frightful nuisance There
can be no such deposit and there can never
be a suggestion of nuisance Whenever
the sewage is properly delivered at the
bottom Of the river it will, so far as the
senses of the people of Savannah are con-
cerned and so far as their sanitary con-
dition Is involved, be forever annihilated.
III CCilOIhlity WIN your
have caused 10 be prepared a scheme by
which II II ever becomes necessary the
sewage may be intercepted along the river
front and delivered to some other point Of
disposal.
The most promising process In this case
would be disposal on the clty's property on
the north side OF Hutchinsons Island by
surface irrigation, or by the method in
use at Paris. This would produce no no.
tlceable odors and would be absolutely
safe and free from all objection compared
with the foul conditions existing at the Bill
bo canal 1t would be absolute purity. Dis
posal at this point would obviate the ne
cessity for pumping which would be
required If the sewage were to be
delivered on the lands east of the city II
desired, both tracts could be used, the
eastern one, receiving all that would drain
to 1t by gravity from the eastern side OF
the city.
1t Is not necessary to say more concern
ing the discharge into the Wilmington
river than that 1t would probably cost
more than the entire sewering Of the city.
1t would however, be possible to construct
this outlet, should such course be deter