The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1909-06-10
Famous Steel City To Point Way
for Lake Shore Cities To Dis
pose Of Sewer Problem
WILL INSTALL SEPTIC TANKS
Owners of City Which Sprang up in a
Year to Study problem Of SAM
tation in Interesting
Manner There

Kenosha may some time come to
the septic tank system Of caring fol-
sewage.
Gary, Ind, magic city of steel, built
in night, is the last lake city to
come to the septic tank system, in the
fear that the government will one day
demand that lake pollution cease.
The time is now at hand when
Gary's sewage must be taken care of
in puFatcation plants, says the Gary
Tribune. With the Strengthening of
the Grand Calumet river and its prob
able use for transportation purposes
by the steel company the discharge
from the sewer, which now opens into
the river, must be stopped and the
flow turned back to filtration beds and
septic tanks.
More than a year ago, when fltra-
ton beds and septic tanks were first
talked about, it was believed that it
would not be necessary to build
them for at least three years, The
present conditions, however, have
changed and the new system will have
to be installed soon.
The sewage pnrifioatien plant which
will be installed ia Gary will be the
one devised by John w, Alvord, the
eminent sanitary engineer of Chicago.
Mr. Alyord has eadeavoled to work out
an ideal publication plant and the one
in Gary will be model of it's kind.
The plan adopted Will provide for all
sewage to Han inte septic tank AT.
ter period of about twenty four
hours. the suspended organic matter is
eliminated and the liquid is ready for
its second stage of pdrifcatlon. This
consists of removing the more finely
suspend0d~matter and. Impurities in the
solution. Ut is accomplished by bring
ing the fluid in contact with certain
forms of bacteria, which purify the
fluid.
The second stage of the publication
takes place in the filtration or sand
beds. Neither the sand beds nor the
filtration beds make complete system
of publication alone, but taken to-
gether they give efluents or discharges
which are inoffensive.
The orgaNiC matter is generally in
such condition. that 1t sodp breaks up
into sits constituent gases without diff
feultys Wlat is known as nitrifca-
tion sets ian and the passage of the
fluid through q single sand'flter will us
ually leave but l or per cent of or
gaaic matter In the discharge. The
economy of theefltration system lies in
the fact that it. allows of high rate
of sewage how through small areas of
soil or compactly constructed contact
beds occupying very little space.
The septic tank, in good working
order, has from four to eight inches
of thaclx scum over it's surface. There
is no Objectionable ordor about the
building, even standing inside over
the solution there is no offensive
smell.
The CONTRACTOR filtration bed is moth
ing2more. Oh, less, than watertight tank
flied With fine aglaseoarsepartlcled mat
ters@nd lutte which the sewage is regu-
atly filled, .reahs for few hours and
is then emptied. Then the tank is
aefateaa and 9he bacteria which iswarm
over every particle of Filter oaGdize the
ofgaBte impurities and remove large
portion Of them.
1t has been planned to build the FL
tration beds in Gary just as they are
needed. The system can be added to
without difficulty and any population
can be cared for by the addition of
more filtration beds.
The publication plant would care for
sewage only during normal conditions,
During rainstosms, when the level of
the water in the sewer rises above a
certain point, the excess of water flows
over dam in the main channel of the
sewer into the Grand Calumet river.