THE PURIFICATION OF WATER AND OTHER FLUIDS
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Smith, of Islington, in the Borough of Fins-
bury, Shipowner, for the Invention of "THE PURIFICATION OF WATER
AND OTHER FLUIDS."
Sealed the 10th February 1860, and dated the 15th October 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Smith at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 15th
October 1859.
I, ROBERT SMITH, of Islington, in the Borough of Finsbury, Shipowner,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "THE PURIFICATION
OF WATER AND OTHER FLUIDS," to be as follows:-
I employ, for the purpose of purifying water, pulverized or powdered sulphur
and turpentine (or their chemical equivalents) mixed together, in proportions
which are varied according to the nature and extent of the impurities con-
tained in the water to be treated, and I use this mixture alone or in
combination with other well-known chemical matters or materials, such as
powdered charcoal, or other equally well-known chemical agents in ordinary
use. I make a compost of the said materials, and introduce it into the water
or other fluid to be treated, whereupon, by the chemical and mechanical
actions set up, the impurities are partly dissipated and partly deposited.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Robert Smith in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
17th February 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
SMITH, of Islington, in the Borough of Finsbury, Shipowner, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-third year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Robert Smith, Her special licence that I, the said Robert
Smith, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Robert Smith, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter
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 Invention for "THE PURIFICATION
OF WATER AND OTHER FLUIDS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Robert Smith, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, 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 calender months
next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Robert Smith, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
This Invention relates to purifying water and other fluids containing or
holding in suspension foreign matters, whether of excrementitious or other
character, and from which it is desirable to free or seperate the water, so as
to leave the water in a more or less clear, inodorous and inoffensive condition,
whilst the matters previously held in suspension are either wholly thrown
down or deposited in an associated and solid condition, or in part so acted upon
and in part driven off or dissipated in a gaseous form. Thus, for the purpose
of purifying sewage water, or such water as may, for example, be found in
the public docks and other such places upon the banks of the River Thames
and elsewhere, which may, in addition to the usual character of sewage, and
other matter, also contain alluvial, tarry, and other matters, I employ a
compost or mixture of pulverized or powdered sulphur and turpentine (or

page_text: their chemical equivalents), and which mixture I introduce into the water to
be treated, whereupon, by the chemical and mechanical actions set up, the
impurities are partially dissipated and partly deposited or thrown down, leaving
the water clear and bright. The proportions of turpentine and sulphur are,
of course, varied to suit the character and extent of the impurities contained
in the fluid to be treated, and, where necessary, I combine with such compost
any of the ordinary and well-known agents employed for depuritating, deodo-
rizing, and otherwise acting upon animal or vegetable matters in a state of
decomposition.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, I wish it to be
understood that I do not confine myself to the proportions in which sulphur
and turpentine are mixed for the purposes herein stated; but what I claim as
my Invention is, the use or employment of a mixture or combination of
sulphur with turpentine for the purification of water and other fluids, and
whether a compost of such materials or their chemical equivalents be used
alone or in combination with any well-known deodorizing or purifying
agent.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Smith, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of February, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty.
Witness,
FREDERIC ROBERTS,
at 1, Ingram Court, City.
ROBERT SMITH. (L.S.)