IMPROVEMENTS IN UTILIZING SEWAGE MATTERS, AND IN THE MEANS OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN, PART OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS IS ALSO APPLICABLE TO RAISING AND FORCING OTHER FLUIDS
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Walker, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN UTILIZING
SEWAGE MATTERS, AND IN THE MEANS OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN, PART
OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS IS ALSO APPLICABLE TO RAISING AND FORCING OTHER
FLUIDS."
Sealed the 15th May 1863, and dated the 21st November 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Walker at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
21st November 1862.
I, THOMAS WALKER, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
UTILIZING SEWAGE MATTERS, AND IN THE MEANS OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN,
PART OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS IS ALSO APPLICABLE TO RAISING AND FORCING OTHER
FLUIDS," to be as follows:-
The improvements relate to means by which sewage matters may be
collected, and the more solid or heavier fertilizing parts thereof retained by
subsidence, and then distributed over a district for agricultural or horticultural
purposes. For this purpose I form a conduit from the sewer or drain to the
lower part of a well or reservoir, which I call the pump well or reservoir, with
the side or sides thereof by preference inclined; whilst the heavier particles
will by gravitation descend to the lower part of such well or reservoir, the

page_text: more liquid portion thereof may flow over by a suitable passage back into the
sewer or drain again, or into another or other secondary subsiding well or
reservoir, or wells or reservoirs. These latter subsiding wells or reservoirs
may have a communication from their lower parts to the lower part of the
first or pump well or reservoir, to be opened when required to allow the finer
subsidence therein to pass into the pump well or reservoir, or they may be
separately pumped. The matter as collected by subsidence in the pump well
or reservoir referred to I draw from the lower part thereof by means of a
pump through suitable piping, and thence by other pipes I conduct it to other
tanks or receivers, which I call field tanks or receivers, at distances apart as
may be required. These latter tanks or receivers are formed deep at one end
inclining upwards to the opposite, and the fluid matters from the first wells or
reservoirs are caused to flow into these field tanks or receivers, and to over-
flow at the shallowest end into troughs or gutters, laid so as to distribute the
fluid matters over the district for irrigation. In the passage of the highly
charged liquid matters through these field tanks or receivers subsidence takes
place, and when desired the matters subsided may be removed therefrom to
be distributed. The bottom of each field tank or receiver may be provided
with a passage capable of being opened to a drain when desired to drain it
before taking out the solid matter.
The pumping apparatus I prefer to employ, and which may be worked by a
steam engine or other suitable power, is formed with a chamber connected to
one end, or one to each end of the working barrel of a pump, having a
flexible diaphragm across each chamber to prevent the sewage matters
coming in contact with the clean water or oil in the working barrel on one o
both sides of the piston. Pumping apparatus similarly arranged is also
applicable to other cases where it is desirable to keep the working barrel and
piston free from injurious effects of the matters to be raised or forced. Where
circumstances may render it desirable, the subsidence may be obtained by the
use of three or more reservoirs, each reservoir being of sufficient size in
relation to the quantity of flow in a given period to leave time for the content
of one reservoir becoming solid, or partially solid, whilst one of the others i
being filled by subsiding matter. Sluices or stopways are provided to regulat
the direction of the various flows, or to close the passage by any of them a
required.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Walker in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
21st May 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
WALKER, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-sixth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her beirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Thomas Walker, Her special licence that I, the said Thomas Walker,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Thomas Walker, 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, 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
UTILIZING SEWAGE MATTERS, AND IN THE MEANS OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN,
PART OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS IS ALSO APPLICABLE TO RAISING AND FORCING OTHER
FLUIDS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Thomas Walker,
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 mouths next and immediately after the date of the
said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Thomas Walker, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say :-
The improvements relate to means by which sewage matters may be
collected, and the more solid or heavier fertilizing parts thereof retained by
subsidence, and then distributed over a district for agricultural or horticultural
purposes. For this purpose I form a conduit from the sewer or drain to the
lower part of a well or reservoir, with the side or sides thereof inclined;
whilst the heavier particles will by gravitation descend to the lower part of such
well or reservoir, the more liquid portion thereof may flow over by a suitable
passage into the sewer or drain again, or into another reservoir or reservoirs

page_text: The matter collected by subsidence in the first well or reservoir I draw from
the lower part thereof by means of a pump through suitable piping, and
thence by other pipes I conduct it to other tanks or receivers, which I call
field or mud tanks or receivers, at distances apart as may be required. These
latter field or mud tanks may be formed deep at one end, inclining upwards to
the opposite, to facilitate emptying them. The fluid matters from the first
well or reservoir may be caused to flow into troughs or gutters, laid so as to
distribute the fluid matters over the district for irrigation.
The pumping apparatus I prefer to employ, and which may be worked by a
steam engine or other suitable power, is formed with a chamber connected to
one end, or one to each end of the working barrel of a pump, having a flexible
diaphragm across each chamber to prevent the sewage matters coming in
contact with the clean water or oil in the working barrel on one or both sides
of the piston. Pumping apparatus similarly arranged is also applicable to
other cases where it is desirable to keep the working barrel and piston free
from injurious effects of the matters to be raised or forced.
Sluices or stop-
ways are provided to regulate the direction of the various flows, or to close
the passage by any of them as required.
But that the improvements may be better understood, I will proceed by
the aid of the accompanying Drawings more fully to describe the means
pursued by me.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 shews a plan, and Figures 2 and 3 two sectional views, of apparatus
arranged according to one part of my Invention. a, a, is a well or reservoir,
the sides of which are inclined from the upper surface a¹ to the bottom a²;
b is a conduit from the sewer, by which the sewage matters are conducted to
the lower part of the reservoir. And as the object of the improvements is to
take advantage of the law of subsidence, I prefer to form the outlet of the
conduit 6 into the reservoir a at 6, and in order to reduce as much as possible
the amount of disturbing influence exerted by the continual flow of the sewage
matters into the reservoir a, I form the passages from the conduit 6 into the
reservoir at 6' on opposite sides thereof from 1 to 2. The size of the reservoir a
will depend materially upon the quantity of sewage matters flowing therein in
a given time, and also upon the quality of such sewage matter in relation to
the character of the matters contained therein. But supposing the sewage
matter to be of the average quality, and the quantity thereof flowing therein
to be about 1,000,000 gallons per hour, I prefer the reservoir a to be about
180 feet in diameter, and about 60 feet deep; but I do not confine myself to

page_text: these proportions. The sewage matter entering the reservoir a at b¹ will
gradually distribute itself first in the lower part of that reservoir, and then rise
to the upper part thereof, but during the time of this rising subsidence will be
taking place, and the more dense or heavier parts will have a tendency at once
to settle to the lowest part, whilst the more liquid part separating therefrom
will rise until it flows over the edge a' of the reservoir a into the surrounding
trough c, which I prefer to be formed with an inclined bottom inclining from
the point c' each way to the outlet c², when such fluid matter is thence
conducted into a trough, channel, or gutter, by which it is conveyed through
the district, where it may be used for irrigating and fertilizing purposes. This
trough, channel, or gutter I have not thought it necessary to show by
Drawing, but it will, in fact, become a continuous reservoir or canal, and may
be of many miles in length, depending upon the amount of sewage at command
and the extent of country to be benefited by it; and it will traverse the
country in a direct or irregular course, depending upon the character of the
surface of the land and other causes. In order that this liquid portion of the
sewage matter may be available at various points, as for separate farms or
parts of farms or other lands, I, at the points desired, apply pipes opening
from near the bottom of this channel or continuous reservoir, with taps or
valves, and to these pipes may be added other elastic or non-elastic pipes or
conductors, by which the supply may be distributed at will over the particular
portions of districts; or it may be allowed to overflow at the different farm
lands lying below such channel. In some cases such liquid sewage matter
may, by hydraulic apparatus, be raised to other suitable channels at higher
elevations, there to be used in like manner for irrigating higher levels, and in
this manner may several such channels or continuous reservoirs, one above the
other, be supplied for the purpose of irrigating various districts of different
elevations. The more solid matters obtained by the subsidence in the
reservoir a may be drawn from the lower part thereof by suitable hydraulic
apparatus through the pipe d, and thence forced through suitable pipes or
conduits over districts to be used in like manner for manuring purposes. In
some cases it may be desirable to employ several receivers or reservoirs a, of
progressively increasing dimensions, when the overflow from the first will, by
the passage c, be conducted by a passage b' into the lower part of the second,
and so on, by which means a series of subsidings of different qualities may be
obtained. Considerable annoyance and injury to the health of the inhabitants
of a town is now often experienced by the escape of the foul gases from the
sewers through the ventilators and street gratings. To remedy, this evil,
I recommend that the main sewer be trapped near its outlet to prevent the air,

page_text: as now, passing into the sewer at such outlet, and thereby forcing back the
lighter and obnoxious gases generated in the sewer up such ventilators or
gratings, and that in order to ventilate the sewer or drains thereof, there be
provided a tall chimney or stack in communication with such sewers. In this
chimney, and near its bottom, gas may be kept continually burning to insure
an upward draught as well as an inward in place of an outward current
through such ventilators or gratings, and a destruction of the gases rising from
the sewer.
In place of a chimney or stack, a similar effect may be obtained
by the use of a fan or other exhaust apparatus operated by steam or other
nitive power.
Apparatus adapted to be used for raising sewage matter, either of the more
solid kind from the lower part of reservoirs a to a higher level, or in order to
its being forced to distant places, or for raising the more fluid portions from
one level to another, is indicated by the sectional view in Figure 4. And
I would here state that in the use of ordinary hydraulic apparatus in lifting
not only sewage matters but other fluids containing particles of foreign matters
considerable difficulty is experienced by the more solid particles held in
suspension in the fluid injuriously wearing the working parts.
By the adaptation of apparatus such as indicated by Figure 4, although a
piston, which may be of the ordinary construction working in a cylinder is
used as the exhausting means, such piston and cylinder are not acted upon by
the fluid to be raised or forced, but is separated therefrom by a flexible
diaphragm, which becomes the medium for acting on the fluid to be raised or
forced. e is the cylinder of the pump; fis the piston, the rod f¹ of which is
worked by a steam engine or other suitable power; 9 is the flexible diaphragm,
which is firmly secured around its edge in the chamber h, and may be formed
of leather or other suitable flexible and by preference of slightly porous
material, in order to facilitate the clearance of the lower portion of the
chamber h of the air therein, and likewise to fill it and the delivery pipe with
clean water from above such diaphragm on first setting the pump in motion.
In some cases I apply a tap to the lower portion of the chamber h, just below
the part to which the diaphragm is secured, in order that air may escape by it
from such lower portion of the chamber h. The chamber A formed above
this diaphragm g, and between it and the piston f, is filled with water, oil, or
other fluid, and to facilitate the supply of such fluid to this chamber A, the
piston rod f is formed hollow, with a tap f at its upper end to close such
passage, and a piece of india-rubber or other flexible tube may be attached to
such tap.
On first setting the piston f in motion the tap f' should be open,
with the end of the flexible tube connected to the tapf, opposite to such

page_text: connection, dipping in a vessel containing the fluid to be introduced into the
chamber A, such fluid will then in the ascent of the piston flow into that
chamber, and in the descent of the piston the air contained in such chamber
will be forced out; when this chamber A has by this means been filled with
fluid, and the piston f is at its lowest position in the cylinder e, then the tapƒ³
must be closed, when by continuing the motion of the piston f with the pipe
from the under side of the diaphragm in connection with the fluid to be raised
on each ascent of the piston f, such fluid will flow therein through the valves j,
and on each depression of the piston f it will be forced out by the valves k and
passage
k¹.
To insure the proper and continuous action of the apparatus, I prefer to
employ two or more inlet and two or more outlet valves, and I do not confine
myself to the particular form of valve shewn.
Figure 4* shews a modification of Figure 4, particularly applicable as a
hand
pump. In this case the outlet passage k¹ is raised to a position above
the tap f, in order that there may always be a column of fluid in the outlet
passage above the diaphragm g to counterbalance the weight of fluid in the
cylinder and piston rod, so that if the tap fs were opened air would not enter,
as the pressure in the piston rod and cylinder would be less than that upon
the delivery valve; m is an air hole to allow of the escape of air from the
chamber k³, or in the event of the pump being required for a force pump, by
this air hole being closed, the chamber will serve as an air chamber to
regulate the flow.
Figure 5 shews a modification of this description of pump, in which the
cylinder containing the piston is separated from the chamber containing the
flexible diaphragm by a pipe or channel 1, and the outlet passage k' is above
the tap of the piston rod, as explained in respect of Figure 4*. The
same letters of reference are used in this case to represent similar parts to
those indicated in Figure 4. In this case the flexible material may be water-
tight, and air in the chamber immediately under the diaphragm g will escape
through the small opening h' into the passage to the delivery valve k. Pumps
thus arranged are also applicable to raising and forcing other fluids, and when
the chamber containing the diaphragm is separated from the pump cylinder by
a channel or passage, several of such diaphragm chambers may be employed
in connection with the same pump, so as to operate at different times to raise
or force different fluids through the respective diaphragm chambers. In such
case each passage of communication between the upper part of a diaphragm g
and the pump cylinder will be provided with a tap n, as indicated by dotted
lines in Figure 5, or by other valves capable of closing such passage, and then

page_text: all of such taps or valves must be closed except that in the passage between
the upper side of the diaphragm over the passage for the time to be in
operation and the pump barrel; and when another fluid is to be raised, the
tap n in the passage to the diaphragm last in operation must be closed, and
the corresponding tap of the passage to the diaphragm now to be in operation.
opened, and so on with each change.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, I would have it
understood that I do not confine myself to the precise details referred to, as
these may be varied; but what I do claim is, the adaptation or combination of
means and method or system of working for the utilization of sewage matters,
substantially as explained.
And also I claim the adaptation or combination of means for raising and
forcing fluids, substantially as explained.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Walker, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
THOS. WALKER. (L.S.)