The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-04-17
| METHODS OF SEWAGE
 DISPOSAL
Interest in Anti-POIIutIOn Bill. Hearings Start April P
 at 2. P. M.
DisposaIs Yield Profits Porous Soil of Sections of New Eng land We'll Adapted to FiItra- ton Process

| Public interest has been awakened
 sewage disposal, because of the bill 1 ed to make such disposal compulsory
 on the part of cities, towns, corpora
 tions and individuals who are now l emptying their refuse into rivers and harbors.
 House Bill No. 7Oe, introduced by Representative J. Henry Blakeman of Stratford, provides that all inland and tidal waters of the State shalt be pIae- | ed under the supervision and control of the State Board of Health. There will be public hearing on this bill on April 22 at p. m.
 l It also provides that any city, town corporation or individual now empty ] ing sewage, filth or refuse into any l river, stren. lake, pond, or other wa l tercourses shall be required to ''puri-
 fy," or otherwise dispose of, such sew age, in a manner subject to the appro- val of the State Board Of Health While this seems a somewhat strin- gent provision, 1t is really for the best
 interests of all Of the people of the State. sewage-disposaI plants, instead of
 being an expense, as many people inn agine, can be operated to yield &
 handsome profit. The city of Pasa-
 dena, Cal, makes an annual profit of $15,0OO from it's sewage disposal plant
 and the large city of Bradford, Eng .land, earns $15O,O0O or ten times as
 much per year, from it's plant.
 There were very few we1l-bui1t sew
 CTS in this country, prior to 1875, and no city was equipped with a thorough
 system.
 Only a generation ago, the common method of disposfng of sewage was to dump it into the nearest water
 A.. throughout Connecticut).
 The first method of purihcation for the disposal of sewage was that of irrigation, or the application of sew age to land to facilitate the raising of crops. In some places, as Paris and Berlin. and in parts of England, this is still done.
 After 1870 chemical precipitation processes in various forms were intro duced throughout Europe, especially in England, where the density of the population and the small size of the streams, first forced general attention to the subject. Connecticut has now reached the point where the size of the population and the demands of their manufacturing industries have produced a similar condition of grave danger, because of the overlooking of rivers and streams with an excess ofSpoisonous filth and refuse.
 Chemical precipitation works for sewage disposal were built about 1890 at Worcester, Mass, and were pro- dected earlier for Providence, a1- though not completed until some years later.
 However, in Connecticut and other parts of New England, the cheapest and best method of sewage purifica- ton is afforded by the application of the sewage to land for short periods at a time, between which the land is thoroughly c1eansed by the entrance of air. This is because in New Eng land there are sufficient areas of po- rous land of glacial drift formation) to make this inexpensive process fea- sibIe. It is called intermittent hI- tration.
 There are two aspects to the prob 1ems of sewage-disposal, both of which are of vital interest to the peo- pie of Connecticut One refers to con ndtttons which make 1t necessary | to purify sewage so as to protect the | body of water into which 1t is dis charged, provided the body of water is to be used for drinking purposes further down the stream. The other refers to the prevention of over-pol- Iuted bodies of water to a degree that results in nuisances from bad odors. The latter condition is unfortunately too common throughout our State, as yachtsxnen cruising in the various waterways will testify, to their regret.
 In our neighborfng State of Massa- chusetts, the former of the two as- poets of sewage-d disposal has been de-