The age-herald., 1900-11-11
ENGINEERS REPORT
 ON PROPOSED SEWER
Submitted to the County Board
 of Revenue
DETAILS OF THE PLANS
Provides for Two Main Lines at an Es- timated Cost of $523, ,7S5-Bin Will Be Submitted to
 the Legislature

City Engineer Julian Kendrick filed his report upon the proposed county sewer yesterday with the board of revenue.
 The report provides for two sewers at a total cost of $523,7S5. These, if the meter system is introduced to prevent the waste of water, will accommodate a population of 6OO,000 and as this estimate Is high their size and cost can be reduced, if this sys- tenn is adapted.
 A bill authorizing the building of the sewer has been prepared and will be in- troduced at the coming session of the Leg islature.
 The report, in detail is as follows:
 Birmingham, Ala, Nov 10, 1900. To the Honorable Board of Revenue of Jeff
 ferson County, Alabama.
 Gentlemen-As per your instructions of October 9. 1900, I beg leave to submit the following report on the proposed county sanitary sewerage system:
 Your instructions have not been followed literally in some instances as you will ob- serve, but the spirit of the entire resolu- tion as construed by me, has been follow ed as nearly as possible.
 To cite an instance, your instructions call ed for survey to be made and an estimate submitted for sewer from East Lake through Birmingham to point at or near Bullard Shoals, but it was evident to me that the spirit of your resolution called for a report on the most practicable system of sewers for disposing of the sewage from Bessemer, Birmingham, Avondale, Wood lawn, East Lake, North Birmingham, Thomas Pratt City, Ensley and the inter- vening portions of the two valleys, I, therefore adopted this liberal interpreta- tion of your resolution as my guide wherever it conflicted with your more eX- plicit instructions.
 It was found that whilst practicable to bring the sewage from Avondale, Wood lawn and East Lake through Birmingham by gravity, 1t was not possible to convey the sewage from East Birmingham and much of the territory lying between the Gate City electric car line and Village creek by this route without pumping 1t.
 Pumping plants should always be avoid- ed in a sewerage system unless their intro duction will very materially reduce the cost of the system In fact, they are never permissible unless their operating and maintenance expense Is consistently less than the interest on the additional cost of the system constructed without pumps.
 In this case it was found that sewer could be constructed to convey by grav!... the sewage from East Lake, #oodlawn Avondale and East Birmingham and inter- vening territories to North Birmingham, T.Iere it would connect with the sewer ex-
 
 below Ensley, much cheaper than it could be conveyed through Birmingham as first suggested. This was so obvious that it was not deemed advisable to incur the expense of making the surveys along the first named route.
 For like reasons no surveys were made to connect the Ensley and Pratt City line with the Birmingham and Bessemer line, as this would also involve expensive pump ing plants without diminishing the first cost of the entire system.
 Two lines of sewers are therefore recom- mended, which will be entirely separate, and two purification plants.
 The first sewer to extend from East Lake along Village Creek Valley to point about two miles below Ensley for the drainage of East Lake, Woodlawn Avondale, the east ern and northern edges of Birmingham, Thomas, Pratt City, Ensley and the inter Vening territory.
 The second sewer to be constructed along Valley Creek, from Birmingham to a point about two miles below Bessemer, which would drain the greater portion of Brming- ham, all of Bessemer and the intervening territory.
 A purihcation plant is provided at the lower terminus of each sewer.
 In making the surveys no attempt has been made to actually fix the location of the sewers or of the purification plants, but lines have been found along which the sewers could be built and estimates of their cost made along these routes, future and more detailed surveys may and doubt less will make many change In these lines and probably largely reduce the present estimated cost. The same course has been pursued as regards the purification plants. Suitable locations have been found and es- inmates made of the cost of plants at these locations.
 As in the case of the sewers, more de- tailed surveys may develop more desirable locations.
 In designing a sanitary sewer system for so large a district as this, there are several problems which must be solved or conclu- sions arrived at.
 First, we must determine what population is to be provided for.
 Second, how this population will be dis trbuted over the drainage areas.
 Third, the per capita daily water con- sumption and the per cent of 1t that will reach the sewers.
 Fourth, the amount of seepage or ground water that will find It's way into the sew CTS.
 If these points are at once determined it is easy for engineer to fix the sizes for the sewers.
 As a basis for these estimates, sixty gal Ions per capita per day has been taken as the amount of sewage to be taken care of, and as experience elsewhere has shown that during certain hours of the day the flow of sewage Is double the average flow, 120 gallons per capita per day has been taken as basis for calculating the sizes of the sewers and they have been so de- signed as to carry this amount when rum ming only half full, and it Is believed that in this way not only the seepage from ground water, but any under estimation of future population has been amply provided for as well as any error in the distribution of population.
 As a guard against seepage, a drain tile with open joints has been provided, to be laid under each sewer throughout it's en- tire length, the same to discharge at suita- ble locations into the creeks. Knowing the enormous waste of water that is continually going on in Birming-