The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1899-12-08

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| ly that such land could be made"
though at considerable expense. Mem
! bers of this commission have since
said their report was not properly in
! terpreted. some of them thinking then
! and now that land treatment is feas-
! ible for Madison. But at all events
the report was popularity construed as
meaning that Madison must look to
! some other method of sewage dis
posal Hence our chemical plant and
our perplexity.
! But to revert to Ripons three beds.
| The land there is good farming land
| heavy clay down to good gravel. One
can get a good cesspOOl anywhere in
| Ripon. When one digs cellar there
he usually gets stones enough to build
| his wall On the natural gravel three
| feet of sand was teamed in to act IS a
filler" The sand of RipOn is not as
! good as some sand. Under a micro.
scope the bits looked polished, whereas
ideal sand is sharp" rough, and
hence Offering added surface. But Ri
pom sand acts very we'll.
! Under the sand in these beds were
| laid drain pipes five feet apart, and
all flowing into pipe at right angles,
laid at the end of the bed, from which
! the eff1uent flows into the creek.
Hungry Little Bugs Eat 1t.
The mode of operation of these beds
! Is this: The farmer manager uses one
! bed at a time. He turns the sewage
! into bed perhaps for two days. One
sees the dirty stream flowing on to
one bed from five pipes. so to distribute
the stuff over the surface. When the
stuff has slowly crept over the bed un-
! til it is covered to the depth of an inch
or so the stream is diverted to anOth
er bed The first bed is then left alone
for mechanical filtration and the nitri-
! flying bacteria to do their work. One
sees in the bed a covering of fine Ooze.
The theory is that by exposure to air
the bacteria are generated and they
''eat' the tilth-"oXydiZe" lido some
thing to the sewage that rObs it Of i'm
purities and changes it's character. 1T
intiltrateS into the sand and gravel
and, deprived of the elements which
the bacteria have cared for or purified
by the old familiar process Of fltra-
ton through earthly substances, the
once filthy stream, transmitted into
clear etfiuent, finds it's way into the
porous drain pipes or trickling in
through the joints, runs out into the
creek, a pure eftiuent. When the bed
is dry, and the process finished the
farmer goes into it with rake and
takes off the surface-a few wheel
barrows full for use as fertilizer. 1t is
so valuable that in some cities farmers
drive six or seven miles to get it.
This is the theory. AS with many
other things in life the practice differs
from the theory. The effiuent that |
saw running from the beds was not
clear stream. The effiuent from the
chemical plant at Madison is as clear
as water. The Ripon effiuent is pat
emily discOlored, murky, and foul. 1t
is clearly dirty stream of it's own as
it flows into the creek, in contrast to
the pure water. l followed the creek
for quarter Of mile and the effiu
ent finally discolored the whole stream.
The bed of the stream showed the
settings; the stones looked Shiny. 1t
was disappointing.
Not Operated in the Best Way.
But this does not prove the failure
of land treatment, for the old world
has many plants of the kind which
purify sewage, so that the effluent is
harmless to drink. 1t is the operation
of the plant at Ripon that is at fault.
and the citizens are frank to acknOWl-
edge it. 1t is unfortunate that the lit
tie city will not spend the money nee
essary to employ the services of bac-
teriOlOgists, engineers and skilled
management To make the plant a sue
cess, for it would prove an object les
son to the whole country. But many
Of the people are skeptical: and be-
grudge the dollars necessary. The
farmer who turns on and off the
stream is as faithful as the best I'M
skilled care-keeper: but sewage puri-
fication is not in his line. The plant
is a success to this extent, that the
farmers living along the creek ceased
their complaints. The strea IN is purer
than it was. The beds get out good
deal of the foul matter, as Professor
Marsh's volunteer tests show. But the
plant is practically running itself, and
as sewage disposal is delicate, sci
entific matter, when bacteria are the
purifying agent, it is running badly.
The beds get clogged by not being in
diligently operated, and the head Of
the public works department, who has
fought yaliently for leeway, financial
and otherwise, to get the best results,
says that one of the three beds was
ruined and has been in disuse since
last winters severe cold, and that
within two or three years, unless some
money is spent. all the beds will be
practically useless.
Vigilance the Price of Sewage Disposal.
The citizens of Ripon have yet to
learn the lesson which is slowly fore
ing itself on American cities that
sewage disposal, unless natural cond-
tons are most favorable, is serious
business, calling for eternal vigilance.
much skill and no small eXpediture of
money. Mr.. Sickle reports that he
has seen emanating from these beds
an effluent as pure to the sight at
least as water. What man has done,
man can do. But the land treatment
process is mainly a study of bacteria.
1t is curious fact that when the beds
were first used they did not purify as
we'll as at a later time. showing that
bacteria growth is necessary. \ fl
ter bed clogs as any other strainer