AN IMPROVED METHOD OF COLLECTING AND DISPOSING OF THE SEWAGE OF TOWNS OR CITIES
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Benjamin Young and Peter Brown, of Spa Road,
Bermondsey, in the Borough of Southwark, Glue Manufacturers, for the
Invention of "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF COLLECTING AND DISPOSING OF
THE SEWAGE OF TOWNS OR CITIES."
Sealed the 24th December 1858, and dated the 28th June 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Benjamin Young and
Peter Brown at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their
Petition, on the 28th June 1858.
We, BENJAMIN YOUNG and PETER BROWN, of Spa Road, Bermondsey, in the
Borough of Southwark, Glue Manufacturers, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF COLLECTING AND DISPOSING OF
THE SEWAGE OF TOWNS OR CITIES," to be as follows:-
This Invention of an improved method of collecting and disposing of the
sewage of towns or cities has for its object more particularly to collect and
dispose of the sewage of London and its environs, and by preventing the solid
matters contained in the sewage from passing into the Thames, the river will
be purified and at the same time the said solid matters may be used as a
manure for fertilizing land. In order to effect the object of our Invention, we
propose to lay a sewer or drain constructed of cast-iron pipes, brickwork, or
other convenient and suitable materials along the banks of the river at a con-

page_text: venient distance between low and high water mark. This sewer, or drain
which must be of considerable sectional area, to be computed according to the
quantity of sewage expected to be carried through it in a given time, should be
sunk in the ground, which should be excavated for the purpose, and all the
land drains and sewers may be made to communicate with it. This main
drain or sewer may be enclosed within an embankment extending from the
present line of shore to any distance that may be considered necessary, and
manholes at suitable distances may be made for the convenience of obtaining
access when required to the sewer. This embankment may be used either as
additional wharfage accommodation, where required, or as a promenade or
carriage way along the side of the river, or, if preferred, a carriage may be
raised up on columns or arches on the embankment, and the spaces beneath
may be used as warehouses or for other purposes. The large main sewers or
drains which receive the sewage from the land drains are to be made to empty
themselves into sumps, from which it is to be pumped or lifted into large tanks
or reservoirs, situate at a distance from the town, and must be covered over
and converted into close chambers, in which, when filled, the liquid is to remain
at rest for a suitable time in order to allow the solid matters to settle to the
bottom. While so doing the liquid will give off many noxious vapors, such as
sulphuretted hydrogen and other gases, which we collect by means of an
artificial draught induced by fans, blowers, high chimnies, or otherwise, and
the noxious vapors so collected are conducted to a furnace or furnaces, and
are passed through the fires where they will be consumed.
The supernatant liquid is then to be allowed to run off at the higher level,
and will be carried through suitable pipes to some outfall which will carry it
to the sea. When the deposit of solid matters in the tanks has attained a
certain thickness or depth they must be deodorized, and the tanks cleaned out
from time to time, for which purpose a sufficient number of tanks must be
constructed. It will be understood that by thus collecting the sewage in
sewers or drains that are not affected by the tide, there will always be a
regular flow towards the tanks as the pumps and lifting engines are to be kept
constantly at work. The artificial draught caused by the ventilating fans or
high chimnies will always create a current of air in one direction in the land
drains as well as in the main drain or sewer, and consequently no smell will
emanate from the traps or gulley holes either of private houses or public
streets or ways.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Benjamin Young and Peter Brown in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 28th December 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, BENJAMIN
YOUNG and PETER BROWN, of Spa Road, Bermondsey, in the Borough of
Southwark, Glue Manufacturers, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-second year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us,
the said Benjamin Young and Peter Brown, Her special license that
we, the said Benjamin Young and Peter Brown, our executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Benjamin Young
and Peter Brown, our 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
"AN IMPROVED METHOD OF COLLECTING AND DISPOSING OF THE SEWAGE OF TOWNS
OR CITIES," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said Benjamin
Young and Peter Brown, by an instrument in writing under our hands and
seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us, should particularly describe
and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, 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 Benjamin Young, on behalf of myself
and of the said Peter Brown, do hereby declare the nature of our said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be par-
ticularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement (that
is to say):
This Invention of "An Improved Method of Collecting and Disposing of
the Sewage of Towns or Cities," has for its object more particularly to collect
and dispose of the sewage of London and its environs, and by preventing the
solid matters contained in the sewage from passing into the Thames the river
will be purified, and at the same time the said solid matters may be collected
and used as a manure for fertilizing land. In order to effect the object of our
Invention, we propose to lay a sewer or drain constructed of cast-iron pipes,

page_text: brickwork, or other convenient and suitable materials along the banks of the
river at a convenient distance between low and high water mark. This sewer
or drain we prefer to construct of cast-iron pipes or tubes, which must be of
considerable sectional area, to be computed according to the quantity of sewage
expected to be carried through it in a given time. These pipes or tubes are
to be sunk in the solid ground, which must be excavated for the purpose, and
all the land drains and sewers must be made to communicate with the main
sewer or drain so formed. This main drain or sewer may, if desired, be
enclosed within an embankment extending from the present line of shore.to
any distance that may be considered necessary, and manholes or openings
must be made in the pipes at suitable distances for the convenience of obtaining
access, when required, to the sewer. This embankment may be used either as
additional wharfage accommodation, where required, or as a promenade or
carriage way along the side of the river, or, if preferred, a carriage way may
be raised up on columns or arches on the embankment, and the spaces beneath
may be used as warehouses or for other purposes. These large main sewers
or drains which are intended to receive the sewage from the land drains are
to be made to empty themselves into pumps, from which the sewage is to be
pumped or lifted into large tanks or reservoirs situate at a distance from the
town. These reservoirs must be covered over and converted into close
chambers, in which, when filled, the liquid is to remain at rest for a suitable
time, in order to allow the solid matters to settle to the bottom, or instead of
the large main drains or sewers being made to empty themselves into pumps,
from which the sewage is afterwards pumped into reservoirs, as above men-
tioned, force pumps may be adapted direct to the large iron pipes or tubes of
which the sewer is constructed, and by this means the sewage will be pumped
at once into the reservoirs. While the sewage is thus settling and depositing
its solid matters at the bottom of the reservoir, the liquid will give off many
noxious vapours, such as sulphuretted hydrogen and other gases, which are to
be collected and drawn out of the reservoirs by means of an artificial draught
induced by fans, blowers, high chimnies, or other convenient and suitable
exhausting apparatus, and the noxious vapours so collected are conducted to
a furnace or furnaces, and are passed through the fires, where they will be
consumed, or the deleterious gases removed or burnt out of them. After the
sewage has been allowed to remain at rest for from six to ten days, the super-
natant liquid is allowed to run off at the high level to which it has been lifted
to the pumps, and it will be carried through suitable pipes to some outfall, and
if desired, it may be conveyed to the sea; but it has been proved by experiment
that the supernatant liquid after being allowed to remain at rest for some

page_text: days will be perfectly tasteless, and as brilliant and clear as the best spring
water; this liquid may, therefore, without the slightest inconvenience, be
allowed to run direct into the Thames or other river. When the deposit of
solid matters in the tanks or reservoirs has attained a certain thickness or
depth, the solid matters must be deodorized, and the tanks cleaned out from
time to time, for which purpose a sufficient number of tanks must be con-
structed. For the purpose of deodorizing these solid matters, we prefer to
use peat charcoal, but we do not intend to confine ourselves to this or any
other deodorizer, and we would merely observe that as it is proposed to use
the solid matters as manure, it is advisable not to make use of any chemical
ingredient as a deodorizer, which will injuriously affect the fertilizing principle
of the manure.
It will be undertood that by thus collecting the sewage in
sewers or drains that are not affected by the tide, there will always be a
regular flow of the liquid towards the tanks, as the pumps and lifting engines
arc to be kept constantly at work, there will consequently be little risk of the
main or other drains becoming choked or clogged by any deposit of solid
matters therein. The artificial draught caused by the ventilating fans or high
chimnies will always create a current of air in one direction in the land drains
as well as in the main drain or sewer, and consequently no smell will emanate
from the traps or gulley holes, either of private houses or public streets or
ways, as is now the case at certain seasons and times of the tides.
Having now described our Invention of "An Improved Method of Collecting
and Disposing of the Sewage of Towns or Cities," and having explained the
manner of carrying the same into effect, we would observe that inasmuch as
the construction and arrangement of the necessary apparatus for carrying out
and effecting the object of our Invention must necessarily depend upon local
circumstances, which must be judged of by the engineer employed in erecting
or constructing the works, we have not considered it requisite to give any
Drawings thereof as the principle upon which our improved method of
collecting and disposing of the sewage of towns or cities is based, is sufficiently
explained in the above description of our Invention. In conclusion, we claim
collecting the sewage of towns or cities in close tanks or reservoirs, in which
it is allowed to remain at rest for a sufficient length of time to enable all the
solid matters contained therein to settle, and be deposited at the bottom of the
said tanks or reservoirs, from which the clear supernatant liquid is afterwards
drawn or allowed to run off, in order to admit of the said tanks and reservoirs
being again filled from time to time at regular or stated intervals, so as to
obtain an accumulation of solid matter in the said tanks or reservoirs.
We claim particularly the use of close or covered tanks or reservoirs for

page_text: the above purposes, so as to admit of the noxious or deleterious fumes or gases
arising from the stagnant sewage being collected and drawn off by any con-
venient exhausting apparatus, whereby such noxious or deleterious fumes or
gases may be conveyed to furnaces or fireplaces, in which they may be
consumed or purified before being allowed to escape into the atmosphere..
In witness whereof, I, the said Benjamin Young, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Twenty-eighth day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
BENJAMIN YOUNG. (L.S.)