IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR RECEIVING AND TREATING SEWAGE AND OTHER NOXIOUS MATTERS.
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Weare, of Newcastle-under-Lyme, in
the County of Stafford, Sanitary Contractor, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR RECEIVING AND TREATING SEWAGE AND
OTHER NOXIOUS MATTERS.'
Sealed the 26th July 1870, and dated the 7th May 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Weare at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
7th May 1870.
I, ROBERT WEARE, of Newcastle-under-Lyme, in the County of
Stafford, Sanitary Contractor, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR RECEIVING AND TREATING
SEWAGE AND OTHER NOXIOUS MATTERS," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in apparatus for.
receiving and treating sewage and other noxious matters. In order to
free the sewage from foul matter so as to render the liquid innocuous and
obtain from the sewage a valuable manure, I employ an outer closed
vessel or tank containing within it an inner vessel or tank with per-

page_text: "
forated sides. The space between the perforated sides of the inner
vessel or tank, and the sides of the outer vessel or tank is packed with
ashes, charcoal, or other deodorizing or purifying material. The sewage
is received from the sewer into the inner perforated vessel or tank,
it filters through the deodorizing or purifying material, and so passes
through the outer vessel or tank into one or more closed vessels or
tanks similarly constructed and fitted, and eventually the liquid portion
passes from such vessels or tanks as purified water, which may without
nuisance or injury be allowed to enter a river or stream. From time
to time the residuum is dug out from the several vessels or tanks in a
deodorized condition, and is afterwards available as a valuable dry and
inoffensive manure. I employ tanks similarly constructed and fitted for
purifying noxious liquids discharged from print works, dye works, and
such other manufacturing establishments as discharge noxious liquids.
For constructing commodes or apparatus so as to deodorize or disinfect
excrementitious matter I apply to a suitable receptacle an air-tight
cover fitted by means of an india-rubber or other packing ring, and in
the cover is a perforated box containing charcoal or other deodorant or
disinfectant. Any foul air escaping from the receptacle thus has to
permeate the purifying material and is so rendered innocuous.
"
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Robert Weare in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 7th November 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
WEARE, of Newcastle-under-Lyme, in the County of Stafford, Sanitary
Contractor, send greeting.
.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-third
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and 3
grant unto me, the said Robert Weare, Her special licence, that I, the
said Robert Weare, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Robert Weare, 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, 3

page_text: 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR
RECEIVING AND TREATING SEWAGE AND OTHER NOXIOUS MATTERS," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Robert Weare, 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 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 Robert Weare, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
bo performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement thereof, that is to say :-
This Invention has for its object improvements in apparatus for
receiving and treating sewage and other noxious matters. In order to
free the sewage from foul matter, so as to render the liquid innocuous
and obtain from the sewage a valuable manure, I cause the sewage
discharged from the sewer, after it has passed through a catch pit where
stones and sand are deposited, to enter a double tank. The inner sides
of the tank are perforated and enclose and retain filtering materials.
The liquid part of the sewage percolates through these materials from
the interior of the tank to the outer unperforated walls or sides, and
escapes into succeeding filtering vessels and so to the outfall, whilst
the solid part of the sewage remains within the first tank. The filtering
materials I employ are charcoal and washed cinders, the former being
reduced to the size of swan shot or thereabouts.
In the annexed Drawings Figure 1 is a section, and Fig. 2 a plan of
a system of apparatus for receiving and treating sewage according to my
Invention, and in the manner which I prefer.
a is a main sewer discharging into a catch pit b, and thence into the
interior of the tank c which I call the fecal tank. c³, c'; are perforated
partitions of iron or wood, they are formed in panels of convenient size
and fitted into and supported by columns. c³, c³, are similar partitions
set at a distance of, say three feet outside the partitions c¹, and the space
between the two is filled up with a mixture of charcoal and washed
cinders. The cinders may be of a size to pass through a quarter-inch

page_text: ,
sieve, whilst, as before stated, the charcoal may be about the size of swan
shot. The tank cand the catch pit are arched over or otherwise closed
at the top, so that in no case can they overflow, and man holes are
provided to enter them. When the sewage comes down with unusual
rapidity it accumulates in the sewer until a head of some feet is attained,
and this pressure hastens the passage of the liquid through the filtering
material contained between the partitions cand c². The liquid from
the tank c passes into a tank e, it flows on to a perforated metal plate e¹
and falls as a shower on to a bed of cinders and charcoal supported on
another perforated plate e'. The liquid filters through this bed and
flows through another layer of filtering material sustained by perforated
plates es into the trough f, where it meets the charcoal box g through
which also it has to pass. The box fits into a recess formed for it in
the brickwork, it is perforated at the front and back and is filled with
granulated charcoal and fine washed cinders. Two of these boxes are
provided and they are used alternately each for about twenty-four hours,
and when out of use they are raised by a crane and kept suspended, so
that they may drain and be purified by exposure to the air; h is a tank-
in all respects similar to the tank c, the ashes employed in it however
should be finer; i is another tank which receives the liquid after passing
the tank h, it contains several layers of charcoal and cinders separated
by perforated plates. The cinders in this tank should be as small as the
charcoal, and a cloth is laid on the lowest plate to prevent the passage
of the filtering material through the perforations. The liquid from the
tank is sufficiently pure to be allowed to escape without injury or
nuisance into any river or stream. The filtering materials are changed
from time to time, as may be necessary. The later tanks are replenished
more frequently than the earlier, and any of the filtering material which
is not sufficiently charged with fertilising material to be at once sold as
manure is placed in the fæcal tank to there mix with solid materials
retained from the sewage; the fæcal tank is emptied from time to time
when it becomes full, and its contents sold as manure.
The sewage
works are provided with two sets of apparatus, so that the sewage may
be shut off from one set when it is requisite to empty any of the tanks.
The size of the tanks will vary with the quantity of sewage to be dealt

page_text: hundred persons. All the tanks may advantageously be covered, and over-
flows may be provided to all the tanks beyond the focal tank, to provide
for exceptional cases in which the subsequent filtrations may not
proceed with sufficient rapidity. The waste waters from manufactories,
where they are of a noxious nature, may be treated in this manner.
I claim the improvements in apparatus for receiving and treating
sewage and other noxious matters substantially as described.
For constructing commodes or apparatus so as to deodorize or disinfect
excrementitious matter I apply to a suitable receptacle an air-tight
cover fitted by means of an india-rubber or other packing ring, and in
the cover is a perforated box containing charcoal or other deodorant
or disinfectant. Any foul air escaping from the receptacle thus has to
permento the purifying material and is so rendered innocuous.
Figure 3 is a side view half in section of a child's commode thus
arranged.
a is a metal casing supporting the earthenware vessel 6 which is held
in its place by metal bands c; d is the lid capable of being fixed by a
bayonet joint on to the casing a, and with a vulcanised india-rubber tubular
ring d¹ to fit tightly on to the top of the vessel b; & is a chamber in
the lid with a perforated bottom and closed at the top by a plug ď
through which, however, there is a vent hole. This chamber is. filled
with finely granulated or powdered charcoal or other deodorising and
disinfecting powder. When the lid is applied a small quantity of this
charcoal or powder will fall on the material in the vessel and partly
deodorise it, but the main use of the charcoal or disinfectant in the
chamber is that it purifies any foul air passing it and rising from the
vessel, and no air can issue except through the charcoal or disinfecting
powder. To apply a cover so tightly to a commode that no gases shall
escape can hardly be effectually accomplished, as variations of temperature
and pressure will induce a current through any passage however small,
but the difficulty is effectually overcome by providing a vent which will
obviate any tendency to escape elsewhere, and by causing the air to te
deodorized and purified as it rises to this vent.
.
.
Figure 4 shews a commode constructed on this principle to be used
in lieu of a watercloset. It consists of a box with a closely fitting lid a
provided with a chamber for charcoal or disinfecting powder, as already
described. The box is divided into two compartments by a perforated

page_text: partition 6 as is seen in Figure 5. Beneath the partition a drawer c,
shewn separately at Figure 6, is received, and in this drawer is the pan
or bucket d; its sides are perforated, as it is intended only to retain the
solids it receives. The drawer which is made water-tight by a lining of
pitch is packed full of granulated charcoal around the bucket, and this
absorbs the urine. The space between the partition 6 and the seat e is
also packed with charcoal, with the exception of the passage or shoot f,
the sides of which also are perforated, so that any gases rising from the
bucket may have free access to the charcoal. The apparatus is emptied
from time to time when it becomes full. The charcoal is then renewed, 1
and it and the whole of the contents of the vessel will be found valuable
as manure.
I claim the construction of commodes with free vents for the air
through deodorising material, substantially as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Weare, have hereunto set 1
my hand and seal, this Fourth day of November, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
TAT
i