The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1911-05-25
Government Is Urging the
Adoption of Chemicals to
Prevent Sewage Danger
IMPROVED FILTERS SUGGESTED

that some methods be adopted that will
change the chemical composition of the
sewage so that it will not putrefy when
discharged into water courses. In
some places it is even necessary to dis
infect the sewage so that all disease
germs will be destroyed. Disinfection
is demanded because of the possible
pollution of water supplies and of she'll
fish beds. The methods adopted for
sewage disinfection are described at
length in a publication issued by the
United States Geological Survey as
Water Supply Paper 229, entitled "The
Disinfection Of Sewage and Sewage
Filter Efluents," by Earl B. Phelps.
Sewage publication as practical to-
day is but the artificial and intensive
application of the process used every
where by nature to reduce putrescible
organic matter to inert inorganic mat
ter.
1t is well known that if any organic
matter, such as garbage or a dead ami
NAL, is left exposed upon the ground,
it putrefes or rots for considerable
period, giving off nauseous odors in
the meantime. After while the rot
ting is complete, the odor disappears,
and the material becomes mineral mat
ter exclusively. The process is scien-
tifcally defined by saying that the
organic matter has become oxidized,
that, oxygen has united with the or
ganic matter to produce the desired
result. The process of sewage purifca-
ton is precisely the same except that
in publication work conditions are
provided under which nature is assist
ed in her work and the result is ac-
complished in much shorter space
of time.
Great Capacity of Improved Filters.
The improvements made in methods
of treating sewage have therefore not
involved the discovery or application
of new principles, those established
since the world began are utilized.
The constant aim of experimenters has
been to increase the rate at which sew
age can be purified. From the old
time sewage irrigation field, with it's
maximum capacity Of purifying 10000
gallons Of sewage on an acre in "a
hours, to the present day trickling fl
ter, capable of dealing with two or
three million gallons a day on an acre
Of filter surface, the march of i'm
provement has been steady and con-
| tinuous.
The later investigators have found
that efficient publication can be ac-
complished without carrying the pro-
cess to the point of complete oxidation.
The Liquid flowing from a modern
trucking filter, according to Mr.. Phelps
looks to the unframed eye like the or
binary sewage; indeed, there is almost
as much organic matter in the effluent
as in the raw sewage, and sometimes
more, but this organic matter has been
sufficiently changed or oxidized to rob
it of it's foulness. In other words, it's
chemical composition has been so al
tered that it is no longer capable of
undergoing rapid putrefactive decom-
position.
Although it may appear inconceiva-
BILE that the chief object of sewage
purifca of the fouling
of streams-can be attained by such
invisible changes in the nature of the
Iorganic matter, nevertheless the dis
charge from efficient sewage disposal
plants may be permitted to enter a
stream without fear Of causing nui-
sance.
The work of publication also pro
ceeds in the stream itself, as it does
in the soil, and in the publication
works, until the oxidation is complete.
Oxygen for that purpose is sufficiently
abundant in a reasonably clean stream,
but if the stream is overloaded with
putrescible savage there will not be
oxygen enough and the stream will be-
come putrid. If all the putrescible or
ganie matter should not be removed
from the sewage by qualification works
the remainder, if it is not too large
in amount will be purified in the
stream. So the publication of sewage
has come to mean primarily the re
moval of the tendency to putrefy and
not the total oxidation and removal Of
| its organic matter.
Chloride of Lime Effective.
The report gives detailed descrip-
tions of different methods adopted for
disinfecting sewage and states that of
the disinfectants which have been suf
fciently investigated, chlorine-chlo-
ride of linen the form of bleaching
!. powder is the most economical and
efficient.
The application of three parts per
million of available chlorine in the
form of bleaching powder to trick
ling filter, effluent effects satisfactory
disirfection. The removal of bacteria
from the effiuent averages over 95 per
cent, and the cost of disinfection
ranges from 81 to $3.50 per million
| gallons of sewage, depending chiefly