The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1905-11-28
SEW AGE
DISPOSAL
A Practical Filtration Plant
That Works Well ii the
Coolest Weather.
WOULD MEET CONDITIONS HERE

WOULD MEET CONDITIONS HERE
The great problem Of the disposal Of
the sewage of inland towns which, Ia
recent years, has been the subject of
careful study ana research, and also of
scientific investigation and expert
ment, has been most successfully met
and solved ID the Installation Of d
plant combining the septic tank and
intermittent fiItfation treatment. at
Saratoga Springs, N. M
During a recent business trip to the
town, ! was informed BY one Of the
proud citizens, that Saratoga Springs
had the most perfect system OF sewage
treatment Of this kind ID the United
States. II not III the world. The state
ment naturally appealed to me, and /
took advantage Of the first opportnni-
ty which presented itself to visit the
works
AS / approached the vicinity Of the
works to which | had been directed
from the town, the location Of the
litter beds became apparent at con-
siderable distance not by means Of
any unpleasant or Objectionable odors,
but by a series Of green terraces, one
rising above the other III regular sue
cession. AS I crossed tile valley ap-
preaching the hill, upon which the
beds were located, and they were
properly located on a hill, my atten-
tion was attracted by a small concrete
basin, into which emptied a stream Of
water as bright and sparkling as The
purest water Of our mountain springs.
Upon examination ! found it to be the
effluent drain Of the disposal works.
An examination Of the plant dis
closed the most perfect system of con-
struction, which can only be dealt
with properly by a general description
of it as a whole, together with the
town sewerage system
Saratoga Springs, like Morristown,
is a residential municipality +; its chief
business being to entertain d large
summer population with horse racing.
and bottling mineral water. The
town has a permanent population Of
about l3, 900 people, and is located on
the two slopes Of a small valley, with
small brock passing through the
middle.
Tile sewerage system consists Of sep
arate systems for both the storm water
and house waste. 1t is carried from
the slopes in laterals, TO the main
trunks located ii the valley; where
the storm sewer debouches into a
stream, but the house waste is col
lected in a tank and pumped by means
of an electrically operated pump,
through cast iron pipe, to the dis
posal plant, where it empties into a
receiving chamber, from which it may
be turned into any one Of the four
septic tanks, each having capacity
of 100000 gallons.
These tanks are so constructed that
they may be operated singly, in pairs,
triplicates, or quadriples. Any one or
two OF three may be operated OF shut
off at will. At present all four are in
use. The sewage enters No one and
/ passes through Nos. two, three and
| four in succession, consuming about
twenty-four hours in complete transit.
At No. four it enters the main carrier
and passes to and through the aerator
| into fifty thousand gallon automatic
discharging tank. The septic tanks
are covered, and emit no odOr what
ever. The areator is a novel device
and is worthy of description 1t con-
sists OF a circular steel tank about
twelve feet in diameter and ten or
! twelve feet deep. In the centre OF
this tank is hollow steel cylinder
about two feet in dimeter, set yerti-
cally and connecting at the base with
the discharge pipe Of the septic tank
Near the top OF this cylinder are boted
Two steel circular aprons, surrounding
the center cylinder and terminating
near the edge Of the outer cylinder OF
tank. The one at the top resembles
the form Of an open umbrella, the one
1 underneath resembles an open um-
brella held inverted Each apron has
apertufes IN the surface. The sewage
comes up through the inner cylinder
is emptied upon the convex surface OF
the upper apron, passes through tile
holes and over the sides to the con-
cave apron beneath. and from thence
to the outer cylinder. and from thence
To the discharging tank This tank
I is Tilted with device which dis
charges il automatically and inter
I mittently into the various systems or
groups into which the beds are ar
ranged the control of the various beds
being governed by a system of hand
I gates.
There are tWenty-One beds In all,
7 containing about an acre each and
they are arranged in series of from
! Two 70 i've on each level or terrace.
Each bed is underlaid with aseries OF
drain pipes placed about i've feet be-
meath the surface. and connecting
with the main etlluenr drain. The
sewage is discharged from the distri-
\ buting tank and is carried by cOnduits
to thesurface Of the various beds in
succession, when it sinks into the sur
J face, and is carried of by the drains
4 beneath,
The aracter Of the soil in this sec
( tion OF the country is especially
adapted for the purpose OF sewage
filtration, and more especially the
particular area upon which the beds
I are located it being almost entirely
clean, fine sand, and thus an ideal
agent for the particular needs for
which it has been subjected.
r.f - L.