Im- PROVEMENTS IN TREATING SEWAGE AND OTHER MATTERS."
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Burrow, of the Hampton Vicarage, in the
County of Middlesex, Master of Arts, for the Invention of "Im-
PROVEMENTS IN TREATING SEWAGE AND OTHER MATTERS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Burrow at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
7th October 1871.
I, JAMES BURROW, of the Hampton Vicarage, in the County of
Middlesex, Master of Arts, do hereby declaro the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN TREATING SEWAGE AND OTHER MATTERS,"
to be as follows:-
These improvements relate to the treatment of sewage and to the
employment of the effluent water and the deposit for commercial and
other purposes.
I take sulphate of iron, say one part, and mix it with lime, say 15
parts, or with caustic soda or some other reagent and place the liquid

page_text: compound in a tank or other receptacle into which sewage is permitted
to flow. The action of the sulphate of iron and lime or other reagent is
to deposit the solid and other impurities in the sewage or other matter
at the bottom of the tank, leaving the liquid clear to be run off as
desired. The deposit is to be afterwards removed and treated in any
suitable known manner.
In some cases the deposit would be mixed with town or other refuse,
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Burrow in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 6th April 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
BURROW, of the Hampton Vicarage, in the County of Middlesex,
Master of Arts, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of October, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-
fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said James Burrow, Her special licence that
I, the said James Burrow, my executors, administrators, and assigns, a
or such others as I, the said James Burrow, my executors, adminis-
trators, 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 a
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN TREATING
SEWAGE AND OTHER MATTERS," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said James Burrow, my executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands
and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the 3
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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said James Burrow, do hereby declaro
the nature of my 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 :-
This Invention relates to the deodorization and defœcation of sewage
and other matters and waters contaminated with putrescent or nitro-
genous matter in pools, drains, rivers, and other places, and consists in
the employment for such purposes of a ferruginous salt, sulphate of iron,
for instance, to the sewage or other foul water, and then neutralised and
precipitated by lime, caustic soda, or other alkaline reagent.
It is well known that nitrogenous matter contained in sewage or foul
water passes rapidly into a state of decomposition and gives rise to those
offensive compounds of ammonia, sulphuretted and phosphuretted
hydrogen, which cause the nauseous effluvium. When the ferruginous
salt is added, the noxious compounds are quickly condensed, the
ammonia by acid and the gases by the oxide, and the sewage or foul
water becomes deodorised; whilst the putrid matter held in solution is
rendered insoluble in consequence of oxidation and is precipitated; by
this means the sewage or foul water becomes defœcated. In the
application of this salt to the purification of sewage I propose to
construct a long trough or passage and divide a portion of it longi-
tudinally, in such a way that one portion has a capacity about two-
thirds greater than that of the other from a vessel placed above the
larger division. I allow a sufficient quantity of the salt to flow as will
acidulate the running stream of sewage and from another vessel placed
above the smaller division I allow a sufficient quantity of milk of lime
or other reagent to flow as will render alkaline the smallest stream of
sewage. When these two parallel streams have run sufficiently long
to become impregnated, the one with the salt and the other with the
alkali, I allow the liquid compound to flow together in a continua-
tion of the same trough or passage until the mixture has become
complete and the confluent stream is ready to fall into the precipitating
tank; the proportions of the salt and alkali in their respective streams
will vary with the nature of the sewage; but in treating the ordinary
London sewage I find that one ton of the former to five cwt. of the latter
to every 1,000,000 (one million) gallons of sewage very effective.
To this proportion however I do not confine myself but am enided he

page_text: the nature of the sowage, which I ascertain by the well known means,
and apply the purifying materials accordingly, the object being to
produce as nearly as possible a neutralized condition of the treated
sewage. By this method I am enabled to keep up a continuous stream
through the precipitating tank and to produce an effluent water
thoroughly deodorised and defœcated.
I sometimes however use two tanks or receptacles, with the same
relative capacities as the divided trough, and allow the liquid compound
thoroughly impregnated to flow into the precipitating tank.
When treating foul water in stagnant pools or tanks, where it is not 1
possible to impregnate two separate portions of foul water, I apply first
tlie ferruginous salt and then neutralise it with an alkali.
The deposit may be collected from time to time and dried by natural
or artificial means, when it will be found to be rich in ammonia and to
possess the properties of a powerful manure.
1
Having now described the nature of my said Invention and the
manner in which it is or may be carried into effect I would observe that
what I do claim is,-
Firstly. Treating sewage and other similar matters in the manner
and for the purposes set forth.
. Secondly. The employment of a ferruginous salt in a separate stream
as and for the purposes described when used in combination with an
alkali in another separate stream.
Thirdly. The impregnation of separate portions of sewage in parallel
streams before the point of confluence as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Burrow, have hereunto.
set my hand and scal, this Second day of April, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.
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