IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS AND APPARATUS FOR RECEIVING AND COLLECTING EXCREMENTITIOUS AND OTHER FOUL AND WASTE SOLID AND LIQUID MATTERS IN HOUSES AND TREATING THE SAME "
Year: 1882

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to François Alcide Bonnefin of Leadenhall Street in the
City of London for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS AND
APPARATUS FOR RECEIVING AND COLLECTING EXCREMENTITIOUS AND OTHER
FOUL AND WASTE SOLID AND LIQUID MATTERS IN HOUSES AND TREATING
THE SAME
"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said François Alcide Bonnefin
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 27th Jane 1882.
FRANÇOIS ALCIDE BONNEFIN of Leadenhall Street in the City of London.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS AND APPARATUS FOR RECEIVING AND COLLECTING
EXCREMENTITIOUS AND OTHER FOUL AND WASTE SOLID AND LIQUID MATTERS
IN HOUSES AND TREATING THE SAME
כו
'
The objects of my invention are to provide houses more especially in towns
with a complete system for the reception and collection of human excreta both
solid and liquid, also slops, dish washings, house-sweepings, ashes and all other
waste or refuse solid and liquid matters; and to treat these matters or some of
them when so collected for sanitary and commercial or industrial purposes.
I divide the solid and liquid matters into five parts viz.: 1, Fecal matter.
2 Urine. 3 Slops, dish washings and other dirty waters. 4, Refuse food raw
or cooked. 5, House-sweepings, ashes and other like waste and refuse materials
All these matters are adapted for various uses. I will proceed to describe the
means and apparatus which I employ and their mode of action.
1. The several floors or flats of the house are each provided with one or more
closets in which are orifices or holes to receive the solid excrement, these orifices
having vertical sides and no bottom or valve so that the excrement falls to the
bottom of the house without obstruction. By properly disposing the orifices on
the several floors it is easy to get seven, for the seven floors of a large house,
within a space of about a squaro yard. Each of the orifices is fitted at the front
with a small basin or vessel preferably oblong or oval and either fixed or movable

page_text: to receive the urine only; the position of the back of this basin must be so
calculated that it comes between the liquid and solid emissions and keeps them
separated. The bottom of the basin has a hole from which a pipe may convey away
the urine. At one or both sides of the orifice for solid excrement are one or more
basins which will serve as ordinary urinals or as receptacles for slops and other
dirty water. The urinal basin has a hole with pipe to convey away the urine to
its destination and the basin for the slops &c will also have a hole with pipe to
conduct them to a separate destination unless it is decided to convey both the
urine and the slops to a common receptacle. In order to prevent liquid of any
kind being thrown into the orifice for solid excrement, I form the seat with a
single hole corresponding with the orifice and urine basin, and make the sent
movable so that after a person gets up from it, it rises and draws with it rods,
bars or similar appendages which cover the orifice. The seat in thus rising
uncovers the basin or basins situated at one or both sides as before described.
These basins as already explained are for urine, slops and other dirty waters and
they may also be employed to receive the excreta of persons suffering from typhus
fever, and other infectious illnesses.
At the bottom of the building I place a platform whose surface inclines to the
centre which is open. On this platforın I put inclined layers formed only of
pulverulent bodies such as ashes, dry powders, coal dust, calcined or dried peat,
marl, plaster, or other absorbent and drying powder with which I mix as a
precaution chemical agents, preferably a little powdered sulphate of iron on account
of its cheapness, its efficaciousness as a disinfectant and its utility as a preservative
and preparer of the fecal matter for the use of plants or shrubs. As the excrement
falls on the inclined layer of pulverulent matter it takes up more or less powdor
and rolls towards the central opening and becomes further covered with the
powder. Below the opening is a suitable receiver in which the excrement thus
covered with drying and disinfecting powders collects. As a precaution in hot
weather or to satisfy stringent requirements the collecting receiver may consist of
a high basket of perforated metal or metallic gauze placed in an outer box the
space between the basket and the outer box being filled with drying and
disinfecting bodies which will ensure the absorption of all moisture and preserve
the excrement in its natural state without loss of gas and salts since there is no
fermentation or putrefaction, no dilution or washing.
2. The several floors of the house have pipes to receive the urine with or without
the slops and other dirty waters. If the urine is to be collected separately the
pipes from the several floors terminate in a receiver in the basement from which
it may be conducted to the places whore it is to be utilized or into distinct receivers
BO as to be treated on the spot. If the urine is to be treated with the slops and
other waters the pipes of the various basins are connected together and communi-
cate with a collecting pipe leading from the top of the house to the basement
where it is fixed to a special apparatus arranged and acting as hereinafter
described. In this apparatus the immediate disinfection of all the fermented and
fermentable matters, the separation of all the fatty bodies, the accumulation in
heaps of all the organic and inorganic substances contained in the liquids, the
purification of the liquids themselves, and the elevation of the purified liquids up
to the level of the street in order that they may be utilized for cleansing the
gutters or for other purposes are all effected at the same time. The waters purified
in this apparatus are well adapted for irrigation and for watering shrubs and are
reduced to so small a quantity that they can be conveyed away by ordinary pipes
and employed on a small area of land.
3. The collecting pipe which extends from top to bottom of the house as already
explained receives the small branch pipes which are carried beyond its inuer
surface and are bent perpendicularly at their ends so that the liquids may fall
without touching and fouling the inner surface of the collecting pipe.
The apparatus to which this collecting pipe is connected may be a single receiver
or may consist of several receivers communicating with each other. Taking the

page_text: latter case (which comprehends the former) the first receiver which is as high
as possible has two orifices at its upper part; one of these receives the collecting
pipe and the cther is fitted with a movable cover and serves as a man-hole. I fill
the receiver with a preserving and purifying liquid, preferably a solution of
sulphate of iron. Through the man-holo I introduce a bag or pocket having holes
to act as a strainer or sieve. I hang it under the end of the collecting pipe and
it retains all bodies beyond a certain size; they cannot become putrid because they
are immersed in the sulphate of iron. The liquid which enters the apparatus from
the collecting pipe is disinfected or acted upon by the sulphate of iron and passes
from one receiver to another and in so doing becomes as it were decanted, that
is to say, the matters held in suspension become deposited, first the heavy inorganic
bodies, then the organic bodies according to specific gravity. The last receiver
should be high so as to allow the pressure exerted by the liquid at the ground
floor to continue to the level of the street. As a precaution the last receiver
should be provided at the top with agglutinant bodies or pieces of fabric of any
kind so as to stop any particles which have escaped decantation; these particles in
their slow and continuous ascent become fixed to the agglutinant bodies which
may consist of house sweepings, broken coal, pieces of fabric, sponge and like
substances.
•
4. The refuse food, raw or cooked, is thrown into receivers on each floor and
falls to the basement where there is a receptacle common to all. These substances
although unfit for human consumption can be used as food for animals. Instead
of encumbring kitchens and cupboards or necessitating the use of waste tubs for
each house or flat they can thus be collected in the basement and removed daily.
5. The house-sweepings, ashes and other like waste and refuse matters are also
thrown into receivers on each floor and fall to the basement.. In their fall they
meet inclined sifters the lower ends of which are a short distance from the wall
or side of the shoot. The pulverulent matters pass through the sifters and the
rest roll towards the wall. The former are collected separately to be utilized for
covering and drying the solid excrement as before described, while the remainder
consisting of cinders, pieces of fabric &c are employed as agglutinant substances
as above explained. Everything not utilized in the house is conveyed away to be
treated and worked according to its nature.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said François Alcide Bonnefin in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 27th December 1882.
"
FRANÇOIS ALCIDE BONNEFIN of Leadenhall Street in the City of London
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS AND APPARATUS FOR RECEIVING AND COLLECTING
EXCREMENTITIOUS AND OTHER FOUL AND WASTE SOLID AND LIQUID MATTERS
IN HOUSES AND TREATING THE SAME
The objects of my invention are to provide houses more especially in towns
with a complete system for the reception and collection of human excreta both
solid and liquid, also slops, dish washings, house sweepings, ashes and all other
waste or refuse solid and liquid matters; and to treat these matters or some of
them when so collected for sanitary and commercial or industrial purposes.
I divide the solid and liquid matters into 5 parts viz.:-1:-Fecal matter.
2: Urine. 3-Slops, dish washings and other dirty waters. 4:-Refuse, food
raw or cooked. 5-House sweepings, ashes and other like waste and refuse
materials.
All these matters are adapted for various uses. I will proceed to describe the
means and apparatus which I employ and their mode of action.
1. The several floors or flats of the house are each provided with one or more
closets in which are orifices or holes to receive the solid excrement; these orifices
have vertical sides and no bottom or valve so that the excrement falls to the
bottom of the house without obstruction. By properly disposing the orifices on
the several floors it is easy to get 7, for the 7 floors of a large house, within a space
of about a square yard. The manner in which this may be done is shewn in
Figures 1 and 2 of the annexed drawings, Figure 2 being a section on the line x x
of Figure 1. The position of the orifices for the solid excrement on the several
floors is marked a. Each of the orifices is fitted at the front with a small basin
or vessel preferably oblong or oval, and either fixed or movablo to receive the
urine only; the position of the back of this basin must be so calculated that it
comes between the liquid and solid emissions and keeps them separated. The
bottom of the basin has a hole from which a pipe may convey away the urine.
At one or both sides of the orifice for solid excrement are one or more basins
which will serve as ordinary urinals or as receptacles for slops or other dirty
water. The urinal basin has a hole with pipe to convey away the urine to its
destination and the basin for the slops &c will also have a hole with pipe to
conduct them to a separate destination unless it is decided to convey both the
urine and the slops to a common receptacle. Figure 3 is a plan and Figure 4 a
transverse section of a closet arranged as before described. a is the orifice for the
solid excrement; it has vertical sides and no bottom or valve. b is the basin to
receive the urine; the back c of this basin is so placed as to come between the
liquid and solid emissions and keep them separated. d is a hole in the bottom
of b to which a pipe is fitted to convey away the urine, ef are other basins
at the sides of the orifice a to serve as ordinary urinals or as receptacles for
slops &c.; these basins likewise have holes from which pipos convey away the
liquid either to a common receptacle or to separate receptacles as may be
required. In order to prevent liquid of any kind being thrown into the orifice a
for solid excrement, I form the seat g with a single hole corresponding with the
orifice a and urine basin b and make the seat movable so that after a person gets
up from it it rises under the action of springs gl or otherwise and draws with it,
or propels, rods bars or similar appendages (which may be such as are represented
at ) which cover the orifice. The seat in thus rising uncovers the basin or

page_text: basins (e and f) situated at one or both sides as before described. Figure 5, is a
plan with the seat down as when in use. The basins ef as already explained
are for urine, slops and other dirty waters and they may also be employed to
receive the oxcreta of persons suffering from typhus fever, and other infectious
illnesses.
At the bottom of the building I place a platform-seo i Figures 1 and 2-whoso
surface inclines to the centre which is open. On this platform I put inclined
layers formed only of pulverulent bodies such as ashes, dry powders, coal dust,
calcined or dried peat, marl, plaster or other absorbent and drying powder with
which I mix as a precaution chemical agents, preferably a little powdered sulphate
of iron on account of its cheapness, its efficaciousness as a disinfectant and its
utility as a preservative and preparer of the fecal matter for the use of plants or
shrubs. As the excrement falls on the inclined layer of pulverulent matter it takes
up more or less powder and rolls towards the central opening and becomes further
covered with the powder. Below the opening is a suitable receiver in which the
excrement thus covered with drying and disinfecting powders collects.
precaution in hot weather or to satisfy stringent requirements the collecting receiver
may consist of a high basket of perforated metal or metallic gauze placed in an
outer box the space between the basket and the outer box being filled with drying
and disinfecting bodies which will ensure the absorption of all moisture and preserve
the excrement it its natural state without loss of gas and salts, since thero is no
fermentation or putrefaction—no dilution or washing.
As a
2. The several floors of the house have pipes to receive the urine with or
without the slops and other dirty waters. If the urine is to be collected
separately the pipes from the several floors terminate in a receiver in the
basement from which it may be conducted to the places where it is to bo
utilized or into distinct receivers so as to be treated on the spot. If the urine is
to be treated with the slops and other waters the pipes of the various basins bef
and sinks are connected together and communicate with a collecting pipe m
Figure 2 leading from the top of the house to the basement where it is fixed to
a special apparatus arranged and acting as hereinafter described. In this
apparatus the immediate disinfection of all the fermented and fermentable
matters, the separation of all the fatty bodies, the accumulation in heaps of all
the organic and inorganic substances contained in the liquids, the purification of
the liquids themselves, and the elevation of the purified liquids up to the level
of the street in order that they may be utilized for cleansing the gutters or for
other purposes, are all effected at the same time. The waters purified in this
apparatus are well adapted for irrigation and for watering shrubs and are reduced
to so small a quantity that they can be conveyed away by ordinary pipes and
employed on a small area of land.
3. The collecting pipe m which extends from top to bottom of the house as already
explained receives the small branch pipes which are carried beyond its inner surface
and are bent down perpendicularly at their ends so that the liquids from the various
basins may fall without touching and fouling the inner surface of the collecting pipe.
The pipe m may be fitted with a ventilating pipe m' if thought necessary. The
apparatus to which this collecting pipe is connected, and which can be adapted
to any existing collecting or separate pipes or other arrangement in houses
or elsewhere is represented in vertical section in Figure 6 and is also seen in
elevation on a smaller scale in Figure 2. It may be a single receiver n n as
shewn or may consist of several receivers communicating with each other. The
receiver which is as high as possible has an orifice at its upper part in the
chamber o.in which the collecting pipe m terminates and there is another orifice Ρ
fitted with a movable cover and serving as a man-hole. I fill the receiver with a
preserving and purifying liquid, preferably a solution of sulphate of iron. I
prefer to pour this liquid into the top of the collecting pipe m which is covered
with a perforated basin, so that the liquid may wash the sides of this pipe on its
way to the receiver n. Through a hole in the chamber o and fitted with a cover

page_text: I introduce a bag or basket o' having holes to act as a strainer or sieve. I
place it under the end of the collecting pipe and it retains all bodies beyond
a certain size; they cannot become putrid because they are immersed in the
sulphate of iron. The liquid which enters the apparatus from the collecting
pipe is disinfected or acted upon by the sulphate of iron and where there
are several receivers it passes from one to another by a pipe or communication
at the upper part and in so doing becomes as it were decanted, that is to
say, the matters held in suspension become deposited, first the heavy inorganic
bodies then the organic bodies according to their specific gravity. The last receiver,
where there are several, should be high so as to allow the pressure exerted by the
liquid at the ground floor to continue to the level of the street. As a precaution
the last receiver, or the single receiver when there is only one, should be provided
at the top with agglutinant bodies or pieces of fabric of any kind so as to stop any
particles which have escaped decantation, these particles in their slow and
continuous ascent become fixed to the agglutinant bodies which may consist of
house sweepings, broken coal, pieces of fabric, sponge and like substances. q is a
chamber containing these agglutinant bodies which may be conveniently placed in
boxes or trays 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Box 1 may for instanco contain lumps of coal;
boxes 2, 3 and 4 coal broken into successive grades of fineness, and box 5 pieces of
wool, fabric &c. is the outlet for the filtered liquid. 88 are test cocks. t is a
hole for emptying out the sludge or slimy mass from the receiver n; this hole is
fitted with a valve u similar to those used in baths, and worked by a chain from
the outside. is a pipe into which the sludge or slimy mass passes when the
valve u is open. The mouth w of the pipe is normally kept closed so that
when u is open the sludge accumulates in v; then by shutting u and opening the
mouth w the sludge will quickly run out into receptacles placed to receive it.
This sludge is inodorous on account of the sulphate of iron or preservative mixed
with it. Figure 7 shews an arrangement with several receivers; the liquid passes
out at the upper part of each receiver as shewn and is discharged with the next.
The liquid gets lighter from receiver to receiver and the sludge or sediment
becomes finer from one pipe v to another.
4. The refuse food, raw or cooked, is thrown into receivers on each floor and
falls to the basement where there is a receptacle common to all. These
substances although unfit for human consumption can be used as food for
animals. Instead of encumbering kitchens and cupboards or necessitating the use
of waste tubes for cach house or flat they can thus be collected in the basement
and removed daily.
5. The house sweepings, ashes and other like waste and refuse matters are also
thrown into receivers on each floor and fall to the basement. In their fall they
meet inclined sifters the lower ends of which are a short distance from the wall
or side of the shoot. The pulverulent matters pass through the sifters and the
rest roll towards the wall. The former are collected separately to be utilized for
covering and drying the solid excrement as before described, while the remainder
consisting of cinders, pieces of fabric &c are employed as agglutinant substances
as above explained. Everything not utilized in the house is conveyed away to be
treated and worked according to its nature.
Having now described the nature of my said invention and in what manner the
same is to be performed I declare that I claim :-
First: The combination of the means and apparatus substantially as
herein before described, constituting a complete system for receiving, collecting and
treating the excrementitious and other foul and waste solid and liquid matters in
houses.
Second-The arrangement, on the several floors of a house, of an orifice to receive
solid excrement, such orifice having vertical sides and no bottom or valve, and the
several orifices being so disposed relatively to each other as to leave a clear way
from each orifice to the bottom of the house while the combined area or space
occupied by them all is kept within a small compass as herein before described.

page_text: Third: The combination substantially as hereinbefore described of an orifice for
solid excrement, a basin in front of same to receive urine, one or more other basins
for urine or other liquids, and an arrangement whereby the orifice for solid
excrement is automatically covered when not in use the said other basins being at
the same time uncovered, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
Fourth-The arrangement at the bottom of a house of a platform having
inclined sides and a central opening the sides being covered with pulverulent
deodorizing matter upon which the solid excrement drops, and a receptacle being
placed to receive the deodorized excrement which falls through the said central
opening, all substantially as hereinbefore described.
Fifth-The mode hereinbefore described of disinfecting, purifying, filtering and
separating solid matters from foul or waste liquids such mode consisting in
conducting the said liquids into the upper part of a receiver containing a solution
of sulphate of iron or other preserving and purifying liquid, and allowing the
foul or waste liquids to decant from the said receiver preferably through
agglutinant bodies, pieces of fabric, or other like suitable material substantially
as set forth.
Sixth Constructing apparatus substantially as hereinbefore described and
shown in Figures 6 and 7 for purifying and separating solid matters from foul or
waste liquids.
In witness whereof I the said François Alcide Bonnefin bave hereunto set
my hand and seal this twenty sixth day of December One thousand
eight hundred and eighty two.