The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-01-24
THE SEWAGE OF GLASGOW.
How 1t Is Treated by Chemicals aud
FILTRATION.
From the Worcester Spy.

Filtration.
From the Worcester Spy.
The following extract from a private
letter from Councilman A. M. Powell who
Is on a business trip to Europe with AL
derman Enoch Earle, will be read with
| interest The letter Is dated Oct. 10:
In company with Alderman Earle, l
paid a visit to the city engineer of Glas-
Cow, ana was shown great courtesy by
| him. We were shown over the sewage
publication works. which are said 60 be
the most complete of their kind. Their
| system is substantially the same as ours
at Worcester. They are doing what we
contemplate doing, viz: Taking the sludge
| and pressing il into cakes. They after
| ward take these cakes and dry them dis
| lntegrate them, and after screening, pack
| them in bags and sell them for fertilizer.
! They sell all they can make, and 1t gives
| great satisfaction. They do not make a
| great deal, and its sale does mol pay
great revenue to the city treasury. II is
| doubtful if on a larger scale the process
| could be made a source of revenue. There
| Is. however, a conflict of opinion regard
| ing this The chemist and manager are
very confident, and the engineering depart
| ment very skeptical.
Their system OF precipitation Is very
similar 10 our own. They use lime and sui
| phate of alumina, while we use sulphate
OF iron. Their ef:luent is not so clear as
ours. but they run it over coke filter beds,
! which takes up the grease, and tits some
! what clearer after passing through The
| coke is afterward used for fuel, and 1t Is
claimed is improved 50 per cent. in burning
qualities from the taking up of this
! grease
"The best results of filtration are OBJ
tanned from sun filters, that is running
| the effluent into filter beds Of gravel and
allowing it to filter through. They are
now experimenting with ground filters,
large tracts of land covered with gravel
and underdrained similar TO what we pro-
| pose doing. They have not experimental
with this filter long enough to give deti-
mite results. However, 1t is the opinion
! that having more tanks and allowing
more time for settling. the effluent will
be pure enough to flow into the river with
out further treatment. The works at Dali
marnock are only large enough to treat
the sewage of a population of $50 600. Tile
| Council are to establish similar works IN
! other sections of the city, 10 take care
| eventually of the entire sewage of the
city.
1.-The matter OF sewage disposal in this
country is receiving great attention from
municipalities all over the world, and our
city would make no mistake in sending
| its engineer and superintendent to visit
! these places and see and investigate for the
| city the latest and most improved sys-
tenn of sewage disposal, which are to be
found not only in Glasgow, but in several
! English cities.
while In the engineers office, remark
| ed upon the great number of stone bridges
1 had seen, and he gave me a fine photo
graph of a new bridge which he had just
| built for the city of Kelvinside Park 1t is
| of GtOpe one arch eighty feet snan There
are number of stone bridges over the
| Clyde, and they are building another beau
tiful stone bridge in the very heart Of the
city. i remarked to the engineer that it
was strange that they should build stone
bridges here, where so much ironwork Is
made He said they would think it stranger
to build an iron or steel bridge where
/ they could build one of stone / told him
about our lake and the proposition to re-
move the causeWay and replace 1t with a
! bridge, and he said he should consider 1t
the hight of folly to put anything but a
stone bridge in such a place.
Its picturesquencss, in keeping with its
surroundings, and It's great durability
would be the chief reasons for its con-
struction. When | told him what a diver
sity of opinion there was and the bitter
antagonism against the stone bridge which
our city government had ordered he was
greatly surprised In regard to the foun-
the filling, and the results of Dor
ing, and what had been said in relation to
pockets" and instability OF Foundation,
and he scoffed at it and said that the foun-
dalton would be all right,in fact as good as
could be got outside Of rock.
Il have noticed the almost entire alb
sence of iron bridges throughout Scotland
and England. Most all railroad bridges are
stone, and the highway bridges in the
| country crossing the streams are nearly all
| stone, which adds greatly to the picture
sequences of the beautiful pastoral seem
cry. The engineer said Il can show you
stone bridges which have stood thou
| sand years, but you cannot find an iron
bridge of any great age that has not had
| to be replaced" The cost of maintenance,
| he claims, is enormous for an iron bridge.
| Right here in London they are repalnting
and repairing both Blackfriars, grder
| bridge, and the Southwark, a cast-iron
bridge, at great expense. Old London and
| Waterloo bridges, both stone, stand just
as sound and firm as when built. They are
about to take down the Lambeth bridge,
| and also one further up the river, and re-
place them with stone bridges
There is one thing the English do that
we would do well to copy, and that is
| when they are building a thing they build
| for all time The stone which is used in
most of the bridges in Scotland, and, in
fact, here in England, is a soft sandstone,
| so IL would seem to me that our people
| should have no fear of a granite bridge al
Lake Quinsgamond, even IL built Of Fitz-
| william stone.
zone thing have particularly noticed Is
the excellent streets and methods of paw
ing. The horsecar Tor tramways they call
| them) tracks are laid flush with the pave
| ments, having a groove In them just wide
enough for the fiange of a wheel, and not
wide enough to allow a carriage wheel to
get into them. You never see a carriage In
crossing these tracks slew from side to
| side"
-.-o-.