MENTS IN CLEANSING TIDAL RIVERS
Year: 1858

page_text: application for Letters Patent was not given within the time prescribed
by the Act:)
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left, by Charles William Siemens at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 28th
June 1858.
I, CHARLES WILLIAM SIEMENS, of John Street, Adelphi, in the County of
Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN CLEANSING TIDAL RIVERS," to be as follows:-
In cases where great cities or populous districts are situated upon the banks
of tidal rivers, great inconvenience to the inhabitants has arisen from the
putrid state of the water, owing to the accumulation of sewage water and
other impurities discharged into the same, which are washed to and fro by the
tidal action, and are only by slow degrees worked down toward the sea,
depending chiefly upon the influx of fresh water into the river above the city.
My Invention consists in a method of procuring an influx of pure sea water.
at any point or points opposite to or past such populous city or district; in
consequence whereof, in the first place, a more rapid discharge toward the sea:
of the sewage or other obnoxious matter flowing into the river is obtained;
and in the second place, putrefaction is arrested or checked by the salt in the
sea water. Besides which, the sea water before it mixes with the river water:

page_text: may be used to supply public baths, ponds, or lakes, or be made otherwise
available for sanitory purposes.
My method consists in constructing a partition wall, midfeather, or dam
longitudinally in the bed of the river from the mouth, or from a point
sufficiently near the mouth to a point opposite to or past the populous
neighbourhood, dividing the river into two separate channels. I provide one
of the two channels, and which may be of considerably less breadth or depth
than the remaining channel, with a trap door, or valve, or gates (at any
convenient point between the mouth of the river and the city), which allows of
the influx of the tidal wave from the sea, but prevents the water from receding
with the tide toward the sea. The water thus trapped is, however, allowed
to move forward and discharge itself into the second and unobstructed channel
at a point or points where its purification is required. The capacity of the
trapped or sea-water channel may be increased by widening it, or by the con-
struction of reservoirs in connection with it. In some instances or at some
parts it may be advisable to construct a new and separate channel for the
influx of the sea water, in order not to interfere with the navigation of the
river, or for the purpose of shortening the influx channel; or the influx
channel may be made to diverge from the main river near the mouth, in
order to obtain very pure sea water..
The partition wall in the bed of the river may be conveniently constructed
by a double row of piles filled in with clay, or it may be constructed of
sufficient breadth to answer the purpose of a road or railway. It need not in
all cases extend completely to the mouth of the river, but may stop at a point
at which the sea water bears so large a proportion to the river water and
sewage as to be of a sufficient degree of purity.
In the case of sewers discharging into the river on the side of the influx
channel, I propose to construct a culvert below the same for the discharge of
the said sewer into the main river. Such culvert may be flushed from time
to time by means of a sluice valve leading from the sea-water channel into the
sewer or culvert.
In the case of docks or wharves on the side of the influx channel, 'I
propose
to construct a gate or gates 'or locks in the partition wall, which may be
opened for the passage of vessels. It may also be advisable in certain cases
to provide the inland end of the influx channel with gates or sluices, so that it
may. retain the sea water until the tide has entirely or partially receded in the
main channel, to accumulate a sufficient head of water for flushing sewers or
the bed of the river itself..

page_text: The sea-water channel may in some cases be covered over, and wharves or
roads may be made over it; or both channels may be opened, and may both
be used for navigation, in which case the current in the salt-water channel
would facilitate the passage of vessels up the river, while the other channel
would be better adapted for vessels descending the river. Locks near the
trap and at other places would allow of the passage of vessels from one side to
the other.