The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1897-02-27
--latest U. S. Govt Report

First; Land Irrigation for the purpos.
81 disposlng of sewage IS SO well known
mat IT need not be described here. A
EpIacss, the cultivation of the soil has beer
combined with the treatment of the sew
age, and in some cases a portion Of tn,
cost maintenance has been obtained from
Z products Of the soil. The only land.
OF small value within reach, of suficien,
area for these purposes. are the INTENSIVE
ADO located In the vicinity. Unfor.
tunately the character Of their soil is no,
such as would favor irrigation; it is 81
compact THAT even with extensive anG
costly underdrainage, the amount of sew.
age which could be disposed of by filter.
ation would be so small as to require in
this case many thousands of acres. This
method is considered .mpracticable under
the circumstances.
Second: The publication of sewage by
the use of artificial flter-beds, when wei
conducted has given good results. If il
We're resorted to in this case, flter-beds
should be constructed on the Meadows
near the point of delivery of the collecting
sewer; special pumps would elevate sew
age and deliver 1t on the beds from which
the e%ffluent liquid would be carried into
the Bay. The scale, however, on which
this plant would be built would be unus-
uaily large. To form an idea of the area
winch would be covered with such a plant,
it may be stated that, at a rate Of fitsra-
ton CT two hundred Thousand GOO. 000 gal
Ions per acre Per day, a high rate for
ftftering sewage, it would require in 1900
y tAc HtCtSSdIy ittET DEUS over lOur num-
dred G00 acres, and in 1880, twelve hun
ored Q,20O acres, and much more might
be found necessary by experience. The
mass of sand and gravel necessary to i'm
port from elsewhere and distribute over
thai area to form the filters would repre-
sent a volume of millions Of cubic yards.
Third: If publication of the sewage
by chemical treatment were resorted to,
the works should also be built on the
meadows near the point of delivery of
the collecting sewer. 1t would consist of
| masonry basins with a pumping sta
| ton, and all the necessary appurtenances,
disposal of the sludge resulting from the
precipitation of the impurities contained
in the sewage takes place in various ways.
It may be deposited on porous ground
where the water therein contained evapo-
~rates. leaving a se9n!-sosid mass. which
can be removed and used as fertilizer.
| there is, however, small demand for it and
it is not of sufficient value TO be trans
| ported to a distance. On the Meadows,
owing to the moisture from the sol, the
sludge would not dry up well: the uppe
| portions would lose water by evaporation
and become comparatively dry, but a
few hours of rain would destroy the effect
of days of dry weather. No means have
been found TO burn the sludge convenient
ly or economically; it is sometimes carried
to sea or it may be pressed by specias
machinery into cakes retaining little
moisture. but CT little agricultural value.
On the scale contemplated. the organi-
zation of work of this character would
require much ingenuity. and the running
expense would reach a high figure.
The only precipitation works which can
compare in magnitude with those that
you might ultimately have to build are
at Barking and CroSSness, for the treat
ment of the sewage of London, and an
idea of the cost of construction and
operation can be formed from the few
following figures.
II 1885, the average amount of sewage
treated was 250.000,G00 gallons /per day
about the amount of sewage computed
here for 1930), from which were extracted
COCO tons of sludge by means of 81 tons
of lime. without mentioning other chemi-
calls. The operating expenses for that
year were s507. goo. The cost of the two
chemical precipitation plants and of the
ships used for transporting the sludge
was 81. 729. coo. The figures of cost Just
given would be much higher in the United
States on account of the higher value of
materials and b They show a cost
per head per year of twenty cents, a very
low figure as compared with those which
obtain here.
Fourth-The last method of disposing
of the sewage would consist IN continu-
ing the main sewer shown on the accom-
panying map to a point on the eastern
shore of Slater Island and thence to deep
water, at such point as would be favor
able for a proper dilution of sewage; the
selection thereof would require further
study of the tides and currents. Such a
sewer might be built of masonry or
LITE III NUN PlPlil6 IAOd AN lily
sewage would be forced by nlgher power
than otherwise would be necessary, or
the structure might be a combination of
the two.
Of the four methods above described, |
the first is not acceptable; the fltering |
and precipitation systems would have the
advantage of allowing of 9 gradual in
crease of the plants to follow the re-
~quirements of the growing population,
thereby distributing the expenditure more
equitably.
f-~--k.-aks~- -x..,Id 4
be required to establish the respective
cost of the two systems of publication
just mentioned, !. e., artificial filtration
and neutrality-suspicious.; they would be
from one another. The expense of opera )
ton would be much larger, however,
than 1t would be il the crude sewage
were directly conducted to the sea.
The last method, the. sending of the
crude sewage directly to the sea, would
be expensive, but the cost of operation
would be much less than it would be
with the other methods, and it would be |
in the end the cheapest, Notwithstanding
the high cost of construction. 1t would
be, at any rate, the most convenient and
the district from the obligation of main
tanning great works of publication which
must be perfectly organized to be econ
omical.
would be by a. private corporation, are,
at best, very expensive to operate. If
run under different circumstance and
especially If not kept under perfect and
strict management, they would be a
source of endless expenditure.
For the reasons given it is believed that |
when it becomes necessary to purify the
sewage or to divert it from its present |
channels, the best method to follow
would be to conduct 1t to the outer har-
Dor of New York near the eastern shore
of Staten Island.
Before finishing, we desire, in accord
ance with a previous statement, to add
that In order to do full Justice to this
important subject, further Investigations
should be reached as to the final selectionj
of a plan without further surveys, ex-
periments and observations.
sum up the above report: /
The Passaic River should be purified
by removing sewage therefrom.
The part of the Passaic watershed
above Paterson should be treated separ-
ately.
The Lower Passaic sewerage district
is mainly considered.
The amount Of sewage per head rs taken
at $50 gallons per "a hours, and t b fu-
ture growth of the population up to 1890 |
has been computed from the previous
Sus.
An intercepting main sewer and other
iptercepting branches built along the
shore of the Passaic River and collecting
the contents Of all the sewers of the
communities, with two pumping
stations and a terminus into Newark
is
ss 4 dess IS Of the main i~ntercepting
The sewage Of the district would for
years be 50 diluted that 1T could be~f-
emptled into the bay without causing