New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-02-01
THE PASSAIC SEWAGE PROBLEM.

THE PASSAIC SEWAGE PROBLEM.
An admirable example of how a thing should
not No done is found In the plan put forward
for disposing Of the sewage Of the lower fas-
soic Valley. That something must be done is
| evident Paterson. Passaic and Newark must
got rid Of their sewage and they must stop
| nourlng If into the Passac and thus converting
! that once attractive stream into n nosome
ditch The notion seems to stick like burr
however. that sewage must be poured into the
water somewhere So it is proposed 10 build
| huge trunk sewer. extending from Paterson
! through Passaic and Newark. 10 the middle OF
tho lower part OF Newark Bay, there to empty
its whole foul tide Its fall will be so slight
that there will have to be several pumping sta
| tons along II. to force its contents toward the
I outlet. The estimated cost Is $G,000,000, but
there is little reason to suppose the actual cost
| vould be less than twice that amount. year
ago the highest official authority was inclined 10
| regard the scheme with disfavor, but now
deems It perhaps necessary evil. Something
! must be done, and If nothing better can be done
this must be.
Well. it is certain that not many worse things
| could be done. True it would rid the cities OF
| their sewage; but at what n cost. Millions or
dollars would be spent not in saving from
waste the enormously valuable stream of sew
age but in sending it all the more surely 10
waste. The river would be saved from pou-
ton. but It would be diminished to mere
! brook For It IS a fact that during much Of the
| wear more than threc-fourths Of the flow at
! Dundee Lake comes from the sewers. Turn
! that into the proposed sewer, and the river Will
| he only one fourth its present size-a riyulet OF
semi-stagnant water bordered by vast eXtents
| Of mud And what would be the effect upon
! the waters Of Newark Bay and upon its shores
| Would the dwellers ut Bergen Point end in that
TART of New-York City that fronts upon the
! RGy and all along the Kills, be pleased TO have
| those waters made and kept a mighty cesspool t!
| It Is TO be believed they would have, ana this
| city would have. good case IN equity 10 pre-
! vent the preparation OF such an outrage upon
| ITEM or to obtain heavy indemnity Tor the
damage done.
! But Il is idle TO say there Is no better plan.
! Writing IN The Passaic News Mr.. l. W. Syl-
vcster. OF that city, shrewdly suggests that II
! the sewer scheme is TO b, adopted at all the
| great expense OF cutting It through earth and
rock might be obviated by merely laying huge
pipes along the bed of the Passaic Still better IS
his detailed proposal that the sewage should be
| pped from the cities to reservoirs on the Hack
| ensack meadows. These might be built, at least
| in part Of the ashes etc, from the cities. From
them the liquid portion of the sewage would be
| filtered off and poured into the river In com
raratively pure state, while the solid portions.
! # no other use were found for them. would
serve to fiji up the low land of the meadows TO
height at which ii would be available for
building purposes. This plan possesses every
gfIa~ ~
several additional and highly important ones.
It could be put into operation far more speed
ily: It would be decidedly less expensive; it
would make permanent and benehccnt use or
what would otherwise be worse than wasted;
! and IL would save not only the river but the
Bay and Kills from gross pollution.
Best Of all however. would II be TO carry
Mr. Sylvesters plan n little further md estab-
llsh near those cities series OF sewage farms,
on which the sewage would be disposed of in an
altogether ipoffensive and highly profitable
manner. That would be no experiment. 1t
would be following an example elsewhere
marked with great success. Nearly thirty years
ago Berlin adopted the sewage farm system, In
stead OF pouring its filth into the Spree ana to-
day the profits OF the farms are more than
paying the cost of maintaining the works and
the interest on their cost. Paris s doing the
same. Before the end OF next year the last
drop Of sewage will be turned back from the
| Seine 10 rendering works and farms The bulk
| -nine- tenths-of the sewage Is already thus dis
posed Of The liquid part IS returned to the
Seine actually purer water than that now used
for drinking purposes and the solids are used
on the farms and elsewhere at a profit that
actually yields the city n net surplus above all
the expense Of operating the system Breslau
| does the same SO does Brunswick. so does
| Dnptzic So in a modified form. does Frank
fort on the Main. Are we TO believe that those
| cities are superior 10 American cities In thrift,
In enterprise, in cleanliness, in common-sense?
No; for some American cities and towns
have already adopted the sewage rendering sys
tenn and are finding II profitable One Of these
DAYS they Will all come to II. Chicago IS spend
ing many millions on an open sewer TO carry
all her drainage across the State TO the MiSss-
sippl: but some now living in that city will see
the absurdy vicious scheme abandoned. II
! the cities on the Passaic persist In this trunk
sewer folly the present or at most the next,
generation will bitterly repent II. We shall all
realize some day that pure streams were not
created for pollution, and-whch the most rudi-
mentary business sense should dictate-that it
yield n profit than to spend It for that which
means nothing hut constant cost ard lrretrieva-
bic waste and loss.