The record-union., 1899-05-23

TEN, or temporarily interfering with
it's use at full efficiency, or there may
occur another such unusual storm as
the one of April, 1880. AT such times
and under such conditions there should
be some means of relieving the sewers.
There should be relief outlets provided.
discharging into suitable condudts lead
ing to some other point of outfall,
whether the same be an open channel
southwark or an auxiliary pumping
station.
1t Will appear from the foregoing
that so many questions are involved in
your sewerage problem, even should the
same be at present confined to con-
sideration of storm water sewers only
that it will not be advisable to act has
tily in the matter.
Under the circumstances l can at this
time advise only as follows:
Equip a temporary pumping station at
the foot of S street and keep the same
in service until plans for an adequate
project have been matured.
Let the matter of a bond issue for ths
extension of the sewers to all parts of
your Engineer time to mature the plans
NOAS>s
and let the same be accompanied by a
recommendation as to what part of the
system should at once be carried out.
In projecting a sewer system for Sac
ramento, the first question to consider
is the disposal of the sewage. If it
be permissible to discharge sewage
proper, together with surface drainage
and seepage waters, into Sacramento
Il Of no or
uating and extending the combined sys-
tenn is to be considered. If it be not
permissible to use the river as a re-
cipient for any sewage proper, then
some other means for disposing of it
must be sought, and in the light of the
experience in such matters elsewhere,
it will then be imperative to keep it
separate from the storm water.
Sewage proper may be disposed Of
either.
1. By direct discharge into a large
body of water, such as an ocean, where
it will be rendered harmless and inof-
fensive by great dilution, or under GER
tain conditions by discharge into
streams flowing into the ocean. The
flow of these streams must be so great
as compared with the quantity of sew
age that no offense to sight or smell
will result The use of streams as
recipient for sewage is never advisable,
when the stream at points below is
used as source of water supply for
domestic use.
,. BY rendering it clear and harm
less by some chemical or kindred treat
ment before allowing the effiuent to
reach a water course.
3. By inducing rapid oxidation of or
ganic matter in specially designed COW
cred tanks, and subsequent filtration
of the almost clear resulting liquid.
4. BY rapid filtration.
3. By use in irrigation.
The eff1uent resulting from treat
ments 3, and remains to be dis
posed of, as in case Of No. ,.
AS already stated, the permanent use
of a combined system for the collection
of sewage will only be possible in Sac
ramentO, if the first method of dis
posal can be resorted to, at least dur
ing the wet season, when the volume
of sewage and rainwater combined is
too great to permit of treatment by
any of the other methods.
The situation at Sacramento is such
that an immediate official Endorsement
of either the combined or the separate
system or of any particular method
of ultimate disposal of sewage proper
is not required. The city is thus left
free to benefit by the latest advance
ment in sanitary science. Even at the
present time, with Chicago's great
drainage canal just nearing completion
"a work which. at a cost of some $780,
RI hot oif VI; q
southwark into the Mississippi River
the question of permitting a pollution
of the river has been reopened by a
forcible protest from the city of st.
Louis.
The methods of treating the sewage
of inland, and particularly of large in
land cities, so as to render it inoffen-
sive and harmless are receiving a great
deal of careful study at the present
day, and no solution yet offered is en-
tirely free from objection. 1t is gem
orally a question of determining which
method at reasonable cost will prove
least Objectionable. A sewage farm
or filter beds cannot be handled with
out some smell. When chemicals are
used to form a precipitate of the or
ganic matter in the liquid sewage, then
it becomes necessary to get rid of the
sludge, which can rarely be accom-
plished in a fully satisfactory way.
Perhaps the statement above made
that if sewage proper is not allowed to
be put into the river it must be col
lected in a separate system of conduits
requires some explanation. Referring
only to a collection of the water car
ried waste there is no valid objection
to it's flowing in conduits whose dimen-
sions are sufficiently great to permit
them to carry also the maximum
storm water flow. Conduits designed to
meet the requirements of sewage only
in the dry months and both rainfall
and sewage in the wet months are no
more Objectionable than a separate sys-
TEN of storm water savers, practically
out of service for three--ourths of the
year, which will be much more diff
cult to keep inoffensive than sewers
constantly in use; but if a combined
system is in service during severe
storms the volume of sewage proper
will he exceeded by the surface drain
age ten to twenty-fold and if the crude
sewage must be treated to make it
harmless before it is put into the river
then this twenty-fold, periodical excess
will render such treatment impossible
at reasonable expense In other words
a combined system of collection implies
that during at least part of the time