Weekly Arizona journal-miner. [volume] (Prescott, Ariz.) 1903-1908, 1903-05-06
SEWAGE PURIFICATI0N AND DIS
P0SAl.

FUSHl.
1t is a fact well known and beyond
dispute that something must be done
3 to purify Prescott's sewage and re.
: move the present nuisance and danger
1 from that source.
What should be done, what is the
best method, to what extent should il
, be carried and what will be the cost
are the present important, and per-
sistent questions that now face the
mayor and council, and solutions OF
which the taxpayer and voters are anx-
iously awaiting.
A town can usually obtain authority
to issue bonds for water supply, be-
cause an annual income is assured
which will pay the interest and prob
ably some of the principal, but with
, sewerage system, which in Ameri-
: can cities usually yields no income,
it is different. The sewerage system
is usually burden and constant
source of expenditure. For these
reasons the progress of sewerage is
slower than that of water system and
much agitation, strong sanitary rea-
sons, and an exalted sense of public
spirit aud devotion must be brought
! to bear to induce the voters to author
ize the financial burden of properly
equiping and maintaining a sewerage
system and of properly disposing of
and rendering harmless the sewage.
This is natural and human, it also
is natural and human to remove the
nuisance nearest home and be in
different to that of our neighbor,
and so it is easy to vote to extend the
system of sewers to every house and
yet dump this collected refuse and
filth, disease and contagion near the
city limits on public land along a
public highway, to the detriment of
one community, the discomfort of
the public and the peril of the whole
community.
This is equal i'll principle and fact
to having an elaborate and we'll con-
structed water system and taking the
supply from a stagnant near by pond
rather than extend it to a distant
clear river and filter it for additional
safety.
Of all the sanitary systems the sewer
is most needed and neglected. OF all
parts of the sewer system the most es-
sential and neglected is the purifying
and rendering harmless of the filth
and disease germs.
We believe this is realized by the
inhabitants of Prescott, and to realize
it is to be satisfied with nothing less
than assured safety, and after furnish
ing the means for such protection, it
would be nothing short of a breach
of faith in public official, or body of
public servants, to neglect so serious
a matter, or to employ any make shift.
or temporary method which does not
accomplish the real end and effect
ually and permanently remove the
danger and nuisance of decomposing
crude sewage.
To this end the attention of the mayor
and council, as well as the voters and
residents of Prescott is called to the
following facts and brief discussion
sewage and its disposal, furnished by
reader of the Journal Miner.
Sewage is water containing the de-
caying matter of household wastes in
suspension and solution. American
sewage owing to the large volume of
water supply, contains 1913 parts pure
water. l part mineral matter, and
part animal and vegetable matter.
1t would become entirely purified if
we should take out the parts of min
eral and organic matter and leave the
pure water, but as mineral matter is
not Objectionable we are satisfied to
call sewage purified if We remove the
one part of organic matter. Sewage
as it issues from the sewers contains
no dissolved oxygen or oxidiZed nitro
gen. In this condition it is not the
repulsive fluid it is popularity suppos-
ed to be. Further and complete de-
composition can only go on by means !
of additional oxygen which the sewage |
may take up from the air or from the |
water into which it flows.
Just how to remove from sewage |
this small fraction of decomposable /
organic matter is the problem involv- |
ed in all methods of sewage disposal. |
Whatever may be the method employ |
ed, it must be prompt application;
for untraated or undiluted sewage !
will within Il very few days after its
discharge, and under favorable condi-
tions undergo such decomposition as
will evolve gases of highly offensive
character, and as will render the sew
age dangerous and nuisance.
Publication of sewage consists of
burning up or oxidizing the l part
of organic matter. This process is
accomplished by means of microbe
called bacteria in the presence of oxy-
gen or air. Exactly how the opera
ton of bacteria are performed has not
been definitely ascertained. The
functions of bacteria are always con
nected with changes in organic mat
ter, and these changes may be useful
or injurious. Hence bacteria are di-
vided into two kinds according to
their functions, the first being the
useful or necessary class, and the sec
ond the injurious or parasitic class. I
The useful bacteria exists in the soil,
the air, the water, and in the secre-
tions and digestive systems of all an
finals and men. All decay of organic
matter and its change into harmless
is due to them. The
parasitic bacteria likewise are found
everywhere, and multiply by preying
upon living organic matter. These
the germs of such diseases
as consumption, diphtheria, typhoid
and malarial fevers, smallpox, ETC.,
which diseases cause about AZ per cent
of the deaths in the United States.
These germs are the source of danger
in all polluted waters and the useful
bacteria are also the means of purify
ing the same.
1t is known that the useful bacteria