The record-union., 1897-11-06

published. it need not be further al
luded to here.
The conclusion has been reached that
the use Of filter beds on a large scale.
for the treatement of the sewage of in
terror cities and towns, and the deliv-
cry OF the effluent. if any, into natural
water courses is an entirely satisfacto-
ry and unobjectfonable method of
treatment. Moreover. practical expe-
Hence has demonstrated that these con-
clusions are sound.
Berlin may be cited to illustrate this
fact. The sewage of that city. 30,000.
Uuu gallons per twenty-four hours, is
collected at twelve pumping stations,
each OF which receives the sewage of
one Of the twelve districts into which
the city is divided. and is by the pumps
sent from six to twelve miles in pipes,
some toward the north and some to-
ward the south, to two sewage farms
of which the combined area now in SER
vice is 11,000 acres. The sewage is
delivered at the high points of these
farms and flows thence in open earth
pared to receive 1t.
These. tracts are planted IN cereals,
in grasses (timothy and Italian and rye
grass), vegetables. trees, osers and
otner cultures, and are thoroughly un-
oerdrained. Soil drains are 16 to 80 feet
apart and 3 to feet deep. Cereals re-
ce1ve no irrigation with sewage after
sprouting. Grasses are irrigated by
broadcast flooding, the sewage being
generally allowed to first pass through
broad, shallow trenches intended TO
intercept, to some extent. the suspend
ed matter. The sludge thus intercepted,
after being sun-dried, is ready for use
as a fertilizer. The details of the man
agement of these extensive sewage
farms offer great deal of interest but
cannot be discussed at this time; but
TINS reference to the Berlin sewage
farms is important, for the reason that
they are a success. The eff1uent is
clear, inoffensive and harmless Fish
thrive in a pond filled with it, establish
ed for experimental purposes. 1t does
not become foul in it's flow through a
natural channel to the river Spree, and
does not in any sense foul the waters
Of that river. The managers of the
farms and their families are domiciled
| on the farms, SO are all the assistants
and laborers. They form a population
Of nearly 1,600, and, according to care
full statistics. preserved since 1885, the
farms are remarkably free from zymot-
ic diseases and are otherwise exception
ally healthful.
These results are particularly note
worthy, because the establishment Of
the first sewage farm in 1874 to the
northward of Berlin met with violent
opposition. Complaints were numer-
Gus of damage done by overlooking
sewage. and of offensive smells, and
even led TO the action by the State pro-
hibiting the further use of the sewage
on the farm; but as a result Of the in
vestigation which followed, improved
methods and management were recon-
mended and operations were allowed
to be resumed with highly gratifying
results. Not only is the sewage salts
factorily and thoroughly purified by fill
tration on the selected tracts, but the
farming operations yield a profit
Allen Hazen in a recent paper
read before the Boston Society of Civil
Engineers, in speaking of the possi-
bility of SO purifying sewage that it's
discharge into lakes or rivers which are
| sources Of domestic supply, will not be
a menace to health, says
Years ago, before the germ theory
of disease was established, the posi-
bility Of purifying sewage in this way
would hardly have been admitted, but
thanks to the more recent German and
/ English Investigations, as we'll as to
the experiments of the Massachusetts
70 Nd Of &c all
known that it is entirely possible to
accomplish this through the wonderful
purifying power of sandy soil under
proper conditions; and it is actually a
fact that the effiuents from certain Eu-
ropean sewage works. as well as from
some of the publication fields in Mas
sachusetts, are preferable. from a hy-
gienic standpoint, to the public water
supplies of number of large American
cities"
Berlin is somewhate remote from
California to be cited as an example
worthy of imitation in the matter of
sewage disposal, but it is one of those
where the success of the method seems
to go unchallenged, and where the
method employed, as will readily sug-
gest itself. is one that should receive
some consideration whenever it is nee
essary to determine how to dispose of
the sewage of any of our interior towns.
The soil Of the sewage farms near
Berlin is sand or sandy loan, but
other soils have elsewhere been success
| fully used in the same way. Even in
| California, examples can be cited
where sewage has been applied for
many years to adobe land without CIV
| ing the least offense.
Paris sewage, to the extent that lands
| for irrigation have been made avail
able, is pumped from the sewer main
upon these lands and the rest is dis
| charged into the river Seine. Until
quite recently less than one-fourth of
I the sewage of that city was put on
the land for treatment. The rest ac-
complished very thoroughly the foul
| ing of the river Seine. 1t is understood
| that to the original 1000 acres of land
| prepared to receive sewage, 25,O0O
more are to be or have already been
added; ard it is hoped that the same
/ change in the condition and appearance
of the Seine will be the result as has
been recorded for the Spree at Berlin,
which is now entirely inoffensive, and
/ telOiC savage was WdS
almost as black and filthy as our own
| open waterway on Channel street.
Again, quoting from Mr. Hazen's
paper:
THE German cities as a rule are sit
uated upon much larger rivers than
the English cities, and sewage disposal
! has not been so pressing a problem
with them; but on the other hand, the
conditions for disposing of the sewage
upon land are much more favorable