Waterbury Democrat., 1900-12-18

l the beds, they are allowed to become | thoroughly aerated.
 The final verdict regarding the per
 manent and economical efficiency of the septic treatment has not yet been rendered. In several European
 cities the experiments have not been
 wholly satisfactory and are being con- tinued. Yet, where there is an absence | of the necessary area of land for in-
 termittent filtration, and where chemz
 ical precipitat ton has heretofore been
 the only alternative, the new process
 is being suggested in several cities for | economical reasons.
 1 In Manchester, after a careful study
 and experiments, extending over Sav-
 eral years. it has recently been recom-
 mended to adopt the following method
 of treatment: The sewage is first to
 be thoroughly screened and then al
 lowed to settle in open tanks. The ef-
 fluent sewage from three tanks thus
 freed from much of it's suspended mat
 ter. is to he passed through double con
 tact or bacteria heds the first consist
 ing of coarse and the second of fine ma
 terial. It is expected to treat 100000
 imperial gallons per acre per day. and
 to get a satisfactory effiuent water
 In the Leeds experiments it was
 found that bacteria beds were gradual
 ly filling up and thus losing their orig
 inal capacity. This filling up was man-
 ly caused by sand and road detritus,
 which should therefore. be removed in
 preliminary settling basins. Unless
 fDrouS vegetable matter is previously
 removed by screening CT otherwise. and
 unless the working is very slow. it also
 fills up the beds There ate still other
 matters. resembling humus or garden
 soil. which the bacteria beds cannot
 readily digest and which, therefore,
 tend to fill them up. Coke. burnt clay
 and even clinker. materials such as are
 used for the bacteria beds. are not per
 manent ill their original condition but
 break down, pack and render the bed
 less porous. To avoid such a breaking down it was found best to use quartz sand of fairly even size.
 The Leeds experiments with septic , tanks reveal q possibility of liQuifying
 about 40 per cent of the suspended matter originally held in the crude sewage Tho experiments in settling : tanks showed that from s to IS per cent of the suspended solids could he
 removed from the sewage by subS- dence and foatacc alone, depending : upon it's velocity when passing through the tanks.
 ! The purifying effects of tie bacter-
 ial treatment of dissolved organic mat ter were found to be considerable. Sin gle bacteria beds or tanks were insufii- l cient for dealing with crude sewage. but gave fair results with settled or | with septic sewage. The second bed | of the: double bacteria treatment gave , good results with crude sewage and ex- cellent results with partially settled or f with septic sewage. The Leeds eX- = peliments are being continued, no final ? recommendation having yet been { made
 !, The Massa chusetts eNDe,iments have l indicated that if the septic sewage is : aerated before it's application to sand } a high grAGe of purity can be obtained 2 inde fintQly when Altering at the rate l of 300,000 gallons per acre per day. - Less purify is obtained when Altering
 at a higher rate. , = After several wears of tests and ob servatons. the borough engineer and = surveyor of ITudtiersfield. England. re cently recommended the following es Il sentials for improving the method of l. sewage treatment in that city. because n there is every reason to suppose that h this system is to Ee successful r q. The removal of heavy minera . matter and other solids through a de e tritus (settling) tank.
 f % 4 process by which the sewage
  Il, certain velocity through an open tank $ thereby producing decomposition of or
 ganic matter, in addition to dissolvins It SuSpended solids.
 t. 8. Oxidation of the septic effluen tt by double contact with bacteria beds 1T which transform the organic matter in $ to harmless salts.''
 o- Several years of investigation a y Leicester, England recently hrough $ forth a report from the borough engi | ner and surveyor. recommending th r. removal of the heavy suspended matte l. in a detitu3 (settling) tank, then pass 2 ing the sewage through bacteria tank Il or single contact beds, and finall, T. passing it over clay land planted wit ir crops of different kinds.
 is Experiments made in London poin a. to conclusions similar to those men It toned above.
 t. There is still general doubt in Eng IS land regarding the important Questio IT, as to the interval of time and as to tn of conditions when the material of tn IS bacteria or contact beds must be rt I'll placed because of it's breaking down O e filling up with mine ral matter or wit id vegetal tiEres not rapidly liquitied.
 Experiments are now being conduc of ed in Hamburg which it is hoped wi C. throw special light on this subject. A sh though they have been under way fo IT. two years. it is expected that anothc q year will be required before final rt )il suits are obtained.
 S- In our own country experiment IT. with the septic process are being mad O. at Worcester and there also the tint n results are said to have not yet bee " reached.
 ri- Notwithstanding the fact that muc ch detail remains to be done, we ma n- nevertheless safely draw the follow he ing conclusions at this time.
 A better Knowledge hGSf been O' st. tained within the last few years col ly corning the process of conversion nd sewage into inoffensive and simple ar. compounds. which now enables us ito produce better results at less e te pense than formerly. These resul ty are obtained through appliances al 'n. operations which allow both anaerob ep- and aerobic bacteria to do their vol of respectively, each under as favorab It conditions as possible.
 mt The first object to be accomplisht ter is tO allow a natural sprrpC1tiOn of il