IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR TREATING AND PURIFYING SEWAGE
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George William Wigner, of No. 1, Saint
Swithin's Lane, in the City of London, Analytical Chemist, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR
TREATING AND PURIFYING SEWAGE."
Sealed the 29th March 1870, and dated the 8th February 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Georgo William Wigner
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 8th February 1870.
I, GEORGE WILLIAM WIGNER, of No. 1, Saint Swithin's Lane, in
the City of London, Analytical Chemist, do hereby declaro the nature
of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF AND APPARATUS
FOR TREATING AND PURIFYING SEWAGE," to be as follows :-
My Invention relates to those processes in which chemical or other
matters are mixed with sewage in order to purify it by precipitation.
And my said Invention consists, firstly, in the use of a pit or tank
which I term a "catch pit," and through which I cause the sewage to
pass slowly on its way from the main sewer or other source to the mixing

page_text: pit herein-after referred to in order that the said sewage may be caused
to deposit a portion of its sand and other insoluble matter which falls
to the bottom of the "catch pit," which is made sloping and is furnished
with a channel for the conveyance of the matters so deposited and a
well for their reception. As such matters settle they are conveyed by
the aforesaid channel to the well, whence they are removed in any
convenient manner.
My Invention consists further of the improved apparatus herein-after
described for mixing with the sewage the chemical or other matters used
for its purification.
The said apparatus is constructed and arranged as follows:-A vertical
revolving shaft having radial arms furnished with tangs or teeth works
in the pit or tank (which I term the "mixing pit"), into which the
sewage passes from the catch pit herein-before referred to or from
the sewer itself when a catch pit is not used, and in which the said
sewage and chemical matters are mixed together. The tangs or teeth
carried by the aforesaid shaft work between stationary tangs or teeth
fixed either in the bottom of the pit or to a bar or to bars extending
across the said pit. The said shaft is caused to revolve by steam or
other power so as to cause the tangs or teeth carried by the arms of the
said shaft to pass between the fixed tangs or teeth aforesaid and to tear
up and thoroughly macerate any coarse solid matter contained in the
sewago, and to mix with the said sewage the chemical or other matters
used for its purification.
My Invention consists further of the improved agitators or stirrers
herein-after described by means of which the chemical or other matters
are mixed or incorporated before being added to the sewage. The said
agitators consist of central vertical shafts which are caused to revolve
by steam or other power, and to which are affixed radial arms consisting
of flat blades of iron twisted so as somewhat to resemble the blades of a
screw propeller. One of theso agitators is mounted in the centre of
cach of the chemical pits in which the chemicals are mixed as aforesaid,
and which I prefer to construct or place at the side of the mixing pit, so
that by means of endless chains of buckets working in the chemical pit
the chemical or other matters can be raised therefrom and delivered to
the "mixing pit."
•
My Invention consists further of the improved arrangement of pre-

page_text: with chemical or other matters as aforesaid is caused to flow for the
purpose of precipitating its impurities.
The said apparatus consists of a series of settling or precipitating
tanks having sloping bottoms and channels for the more ready convey-
ance away of the mud which settles from the sowago. At the junction
of four of these tanks I build or form a brick well (by preference of a
circular form) into which the mud can be allowed to flow from the
channels aforesaid through penstocks, and in this well I fix the pump
or other apparatus by means of which the mud is removed. As the
sewage flows from one tank to another it passes over brick walls by
which the tanks are separated from one another, and at the end of the
series of tanks the effluent water is recoived in a collecting culvert to
be conducted to the filter.
My Invention consists further of the improvements herein-after-
described in the construction of the filter above referred to. As filters
of this description are ordinarily constructed the top layer of filtering
material consists of charcoal. Now according to my Invention I stretch
over this layer a sheet of canvass or other similar permeable material
for the purpose of protecting the charcoal from removal or disturbance,
and over the said canvass or other material I put a layer of sand
which when it is wished to clean the filter can be removed without
disturbing the said charcoal.
The mud precipitated from the sewage and collected in the well
herein-before described may be treated in any suitable manner for
the manufacture of manure.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,.
filed by the said George William Wigner in the Great Scal Patent
Office on the 8th August 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE.
0 WILLIAM WIGNER, of No. 1, Saint Swithin's Lane, in the City of
London, Analytical Chemist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of February, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-

page_text: third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said George. William Wigner, Her
special licence that I, the said George William Wigner, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said George William
Wigner, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after, during the term therein expressed; should, and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF: AND APPARATUS. FOR TREATING AND
PURIFYING SEWAGE," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
George William Wigner, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the
same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said George William Wigner, do hereby
declare. the nature of, the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following.statement thereof, that is to say :—.
My Invention relates to those processes in which chemical or other
matters are mixed with sewage in order to purify it by precipitation.
And my said Invention consists, firstly, in the use of a pit or tank,
which I term a "catch pit," and through which I cause the sewage to
pass slowly on its way from the main sewer or other source to the mixing
pit herein-after referred to, in order that the said sewage may be caused
-to deposit a portion of its sand and other insoluble matter which falls to
the bottom of the catch pit, which is made sloping and is furnished with
a channel for the conveyance of. the matters so deposited and a well for a
their reception. As such matters settle they are conveyed by the
aforesaid channel to the well, whence they are removed in any con-
-venient, manner. From the catch pit the sewage passes through a
culvert to a pit (which I term a "mixing pit"), in which pit the said
sewage is mixed with the chemical or other matters used for its a
purification.
I prefer to effect the mixture of such matters with the sewage by.
means of apparatus constructed and arranged as follows:-A-vertical

page_text: revolving shaft having radial arms furnished with tangs or teeth works
in the mixing pit, being caused to revolve therein by steam or other
power, so as to cause the aforesaid tangs or teeth to pass between
stationary tangs or teeth fixed either in the bottom of the pit or to a
bar or to bars extending across the said pit, and thereby to tear up
and thoroughly macerate any coarse solid matter contained in the said
sewage, and to mix with the said sewage the chemical or other matters
used for its purification.
When the sewage is much diluted (as is often the case at night),
or when it rushes through the mixing pit with great force, the
artificial agitation of the sewage as above described may be dispensed
with.
In mixing or incorporating the chemical or other matters before
adding them to the sewage as aforesaid, I prefer to use agitators or
stirrers, consisting of central vertical shafts, which are caused to revolve
by steam or other power, and to which are affixed radial arms con-
sisting of flat blades of iron twisted so as somewhat to resemble the
blades of a screw propeller. One of these agitators is mounted in the
centre of each of the chemical pits in which the chemical or other
matters are mixed as aforesaid, and which I prefer to construct or place
at the side of the mixing pit, so that by means of endless chains of
buckets working in the chemical pits the said chemical or other
matters can be raised therefrom and delivered to the mixing pit.
My Invention consists further of the improved arrangement of pre-
cipitating apparatus herein-after described, into which the sewage mixed
with the chemical or other matters is caused to flow for the purpose
of precipitating its impurities.
The said apparatus consists of a series of settling or precipitating
tanks, having sloping bottoms and channels for the more ready con-
veyance away of the sediment or mud which settles from the sewage:
At the junction of four of these tanks I build or form a brick well (by
preference of a circular, form), into which the mud can be allowed to
flow from the channels aforesaid through penstocks, and in this well
I fix the pumps or other apparatus by means of which the sediment
or mud is removed. As the sewage passes from one tank to another it
passes over brick walls by which the tanks are separated from one
another, and-at-the end-of-the-series of tanks the effluent water is
received in a collecting culvert-to-be conducted to the filter.
"

page_text: My Invention consists further of the improvement herein-after
described in the construction of the filter above referred to. As filters
of this description are ordinarily constructed the top layer of filtering
substance consists of charcoal. Now according to my Invention I
stretch over this layer a sheet of canvass or other similar permeable ||
material for the purpose of protecting the charcoal from removal or
disturbance, and over the said canvass or other material I put a layer of
sand, which when it is wished to clean the filter can be removed without
disturbing the said charcoal.
The sediment or mud precipitated from the sewage and collected in
the well herein-before described may be treated in any suitable manner
for the manufacture of manure.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, I will proceed to
describe the manner in which the same is to be performed, reference
being had to the accompanying Drawing, and to the figures and letters
marked thereon.
Figure 1 is a horizontal section of the catch pit, mixing pit, pre-
cipitating tanks, and filter herein-before described; Figure 2 is a
vertical section of the same taken on the line Y, Z, Figure 1; Figure 3
is a transverse section on a larger scale, the said section being taken on!
the lino T, U, Figure 1; Figure 4 is a transverse section taken on the
line V, X, Figure 1; Figure 5 is a vertical section of the mud well
herein-after referred to; and Figure 6 represents on a larger scale sido
and end elevations of one of the stirrers dª herein-after referred to. The
same figures and letters of reference indicate the same parts in each of
the several Figures.
A is the catch pit, a' is the sloping bottom thereof, and a² is a mud
channel leading into the well a³; 0, 0, are the mixing pits in which the
chemical substances to be used in the purification of the sewage are or may
be mixed previously to being added thereto. The said pits are furnished
with agitators or stirrers consisting of shafts D, D, which revolvo in
bearings ³, d', and carry radial armis d³, d³, formed of flat blades of
iron twisted, as represented in Figure 0, so as somewhat to resemble the
blades of a screw propeller. E, E, are endless chains carrying buckets
e, c', by which the chemical substances are raised from the pits C, C,
and delivered through troughs or channels e³, e³, to the mixing pit B,
into which the sewage passes from the culvert a*. The said substances
are mixed with the sewage by means of a shaft F which revolves in

page_text: bearings,f, and to which are affixed radial arms ƒ³, f", furnished
with tangs or teeth f³, fs, which work between stationary tangs or
teeth f*, f*, fixed either to a bar f³ extending across the pit, as shown,
or in the bottom of the pit itself. As the shaft F revolves the tangs or
teeth f³, f³, pass between the tangs or teeth f', f, and tear up any.
coarse solid matter contained in the sewage, and mix with the said
sewage the chemical or other substances used for its purification. The
shafts D, D, and F may be driven by steam or other suitable motive
power. G, G, G³, G³, G³, G³, are precipitating tanks, into which the
mixture of sewage and chemical substances passes from the mixing
pit B, the said mixture being introduced through a culvert b', bª, and
openings 63, 63, in the brickwork. The bottoms of the tanks slope
towards the line V, X, and have mud channels g³, g', g³, 9³‚³, g³. Ḥ is
a well constructed at the junction of the tanks G₁, G¹, G, G³, (see
Figures 1, 2, and 5). The sediment or mud deposited by the sewage in
the tanks G³, G³, passes into the channels 98, 9³, and thence through
openings, in the partition wall to the tanks G, G. The said
openings may be furnished with penstocks. The sediment or mud-in the
tanks G¹, G³, G³, G", passes into channels g, g³,³, and thence through
penstocks h, h, h, h, into the well H, whence the said sediment or mud
is removed by means of a pump or other suitable apparatus (not shown).
As the sewage flows from one set of tanks to another it passes over the
transverse partition walls, and the effluent water is received in the
collecting culvert I, through or over which the said water is delivered
to the filter K, whence the said water passes in a pure or nearly pure
state to a river or other suitable outlet, or the said water may bo
discharged into the river or other outlet without filtration.
In constructing the filter K, I stretch over the top layer of charcoal /¹
or other chemical filtering substance a sheet of canvass &³ or other similar
permeable material, which protects the said charcoal or other similar
chemical substance from removal or disturbance, and over the said sheet
of canvass or other material I put a layer of sand ³, which intercepts the
coarser portions of the impurities in the effluent water aforesaid, so
that when it is wished to clean the filter the said layer of sand and the
impurities intercepted thereby can be removed without disturbing the
charcoal or other chemical substance.
=
**Toving the donorthed the nature of mes Team

page_text: not confine myself to the precise details and proportions herein-before
described, as the same may be varied without departing from the nature
my said Invention; but I claim as my Invention,-
of
Firstly. The construction and use of a catch"pit with a mud channel
and well, as and for the purpose herein-before described.
Secondly. The improved construction and arrangement of precipi-
tating apparatus herein-before described and illustrated in Figures 1, 2,
4, and 5 of the accompanying Drawing, that is to say, tanks having
sloping bottoms and mud channels for collecting the sediment or mud
precipitated from the sewage or sewage water passing through the said
tanks, and also a well or wells into which the said sediment or mud
passes from the said channels, essentially as described.
Thirdly. The improvement herein-before described and illustrated in
Figures 1, 2, and 6 of the accompanying Drawing in the construction
of filters used for filtering sewage water, that is to say, stretching 1
over that which in filters of the ordinary construction is the top layer of
filtering substance a sheet of canvass or other similar permeable
material as and for the purpose described.
In witness whereof, I, the said George William Wigner, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Fourth day of August, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
E
Witness,
H. H. MURDOCH.
G. W. WIGNER. (L.S.)