The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1907-03-05
SEWERAGE REPORT,
IcoNT1NUED FROM FIRST PAGE.

poSai. ,
petent engineers the Board oelleves
The cost to Morristown Of connecting
with the trunk sewer would be at
least Four Hundred and SiXty-Ihree
Thousand. Two Hundred and FIFTY
Dollars 1865. 25000.) To this, OF
course. must be added the estimated
cost of seWering the Town Two
Hundred and Fifty-One Thousand,
Five Hundred and Forty-Five Dollars
ard Seventy Cents 1921, 545.70) max
inc a total cost of Seven Hundred
and Fourteen Thousand, Seven Hun
dred and Ninety-Fiye Dollars and
Seventy Cents (S7l4, 1870 as the
cost of this pan for collecting and
disposing OF the sewage.
While Summit might be willing to
share ia the expense of building the
tunnel the amount so contributed
would not exceed the price that Town
would demand for the space in the
Joint Outlet Sewer required by Nor
ristown-one million 10000 gal
ions day which the Board esti-
mates at One Hundred Thousand
Dollars $4,000 The Board has
been unable to secure a definite pro-
position from Summit as to the price
TO be charged for this space, but bases
its estimate of One Hundred Thou
sand Dollars (Sl00, 900 on the amount
recently demanded Of Madison by Sum
nit.
In addition to the large estimated
cost of this plan for diSpoSing OF the
seWarge there is another serious OBJ
lection to it. 1t is not a permanent
plan, nor is it a final disposal. The
oe1
come, and probably within the next
ten (lO) years, when not only the Fed
eral authorities but the people living
in the municipalities bordering on The
New York Harbor line will demand
that the sewage from the Joint Out
let Sewer be purified before it is
turned into the Arthur Kill. To
comply with such a demand it will be
necessary to construct joint diSpOS-
al plant and it estimated that it
would cost Morristown nearly as
much for it's share OF such a joint
plant as to build a local disposal plant
at the present time.
In view of the very large and UNI
certain investment it would be neceS-
sary for the Town to make, and be-
cause it believes a perfectly satisfac-
tory system of disposal can be INSTALL
ed through d local plant at much
smaller cost, the Board cannot recon-
mend connection with the Joint
Outlet Sewer.
Since The report of the last Sewer
age Commission, in July, 1903, extern
sive and valuable experience has been
gained throughout the country by
sanitary engineers, until now the So
luton of the problem of local sewage
disposal with effective publication,
is fully and satisfactorily determined
and MorristoWn is in a position to
reap the benefit Of the most modern
and approved methods in the con-
Struction of system OF sewerage.
Members of the Board have made per-
sonal investigation, jointly and indi-
vidullly, of local systems for the dis
posal of sewage in use In towns in the
States of New York, New Jersey and
Massachusetts, and they have con-
ferred with the authorities of munich
palities in which such systems have
been in use, and the Board is satisfied
that a local disposal system OF sedl-
mentation tanks, contact beds and IN
termittent sand filtration Will take
care of the sewage of Morristown and
produce high and uniform degree OF
publication.
Only domestic sewage, which lends
itself to treatment much more readi
Nv than sewage containing large
amounts Of factory and chemical
wastes, is encountered at MorriStown,
and hence the problem is comparative
" simple. Asa result of very extern
sive experiments in Massachusetts we
know that crude domestic sewage can
be finally disposed of in this way and
that the putreScible matter in 1t is
DESTROYED, so that the etfluent is not
poisonous to fish and is incapable OF
putrifaction, thus satisfying the re-
uuirementS of the State Sewerage
Commission in cases where the ef1luent
must be discharged into streams
forming part of watershed used to
supply other municipalities with
drinking water
In considering the best form of dis
posal plant the Board investigated
carefully the disposal of sewage by
chemical precipitation. This method
of disposing of domestic sewage has
been extensively used in England and
has proved most unsatisfactory. 1t
is very expensive and only prepares
sewage for publication, a work eco
nomically and effectively done by the
sedimentation tank.
Chemical precipitation might be
used ecomically where many large
manufacturing establishments con-
tribute chemical and other refractory
waste matners which are injurious to
the bacterial life Of filters. In such
a case it would be economical to Sepa-
rate them in special sewer and make
them innocuouS by chemical precipi-
tation.
This is the situation at Worcester, !
Massachusetts, where part of the
sewage is so treated. 1t is not only
unnecessary in Morristown, where we
have only 10 deal with domestic sew
age, but impracticable.
All the engineers consulted by the |
Board agree that the low point for the /
collection of the sewage from within /
the entire area OF the Town is on
Ridgedale Avenue, about one hundred |
400 feet southerly from the bridge /
across the Whippany River. From /
this point it is easy to drain all of the |
Town lying east OF South Street and /
Madison Avenue and north of Court I
Street. The territory Of the Town, /
however, is divided by a ridge follow /
ing generally the line of South Street, /
so that the sewage from the portion |
of MOrrStown lying west of this ridge |