Improved Means Applicable for the Purification of Sink-water and for like Purposes.
Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application, 28th Jan., 1888
Specification Accepted, 26th Oct., 1888
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improved Means Applicable for the Purification of Sink-water and
for like Purposes.
I, RICHARD NICHOLLS, of 2, Purbrook Villas, Victoria Road, Hendon, in the
County of Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement:-
This invention relates to the treatment of waste water from sinks, baths and
similar domestic conveniences, other than water-closets, with the object of separating
the putrescible and other impurities and rendering the effluent water innocuous.
Means of the nature I am about to describe are, however, applicable for the purification
of foul waters of other descriptions or derived from sources other than those
hereinbefore particularly alluded to.
The
Assuming the invention to be applied for the treatment of sink-water discharged
from a dwelling-house, I provide an arrangement such as illustrated in sectional
elevation in the accompanying diagram, in which A is a catchpit intended for the
reception of the sink-water; the latter being conducted from the sink in the house
to the straining pan a by means of a pipe, or in any other suitable manner.
catchpit is divided into two compartments B and C; the former being preferably
subdivided into two chambers b and b¹. Upon the sink-water arriving in the first
compartment b, the fatty matters contained in the water, becoming cooled and solidified,
float upon the surface of the liquid. The heavy impurities subside to the lower part
of the chamber, and passing through the orifice 62 in the inclined bottom 63, arrive
in the well or pocket 6, in which such impurities collect. The water passes through
the well and orifice 6 in the inclined bottom 6 of the chamber 6, and eventually
arrives in the second compartment C, by way of the opening c. The latter is covered
by a piece of filtering canvas, mounted in a suitable frame, held in grooves in the
side of the tank A, and may be readily withdrawn for cleaning or renewal.. A second
filtering canvas c¹ of coarser texture, also mounted in a removable frame, is placed in
front of the canvas-covered opening c-preferably at an angle, as shewn; the object
being to intercept fatty matters and preserve, as far as possible, the canvas over the

page_text: C
slot from clogging. To permit of the sludge or heavy impurities deposited in the
well being removed without, arresting the process of precipitation, the orifices
and are closed by means of suitable plugs; the latter being attached to handles of
sufficient length and rendered capable of making a water-tight joint by means of
india-rubber washers or equivalent means. The sludge may then be withdrawn
through an opening provided for the purpose; the latter being normally closed by a
piate covered with felt, or other suitable material, for effecting a water-tight joint.
This plate may be secured to the tank by studs and wedges or by bolts, or in any
other convenient manner. The plate is furnished with a valve or tap whereby any
water contained in the well may be withdrawn and returned to the chamber b
hefore the well b is opened. The sludge, after removal from the catchpit, may be
at once converted into manure by mixing it with soot and salt, in the proportion
of 90 per cent. of the former to 10 per cent. of the latter. Other proportions or
other substances may, however, be employed, if preferred. Similarly, the sludge may
be withdrawn by means of a waste-pipe furnished with a plug or tap. After the
outlet from the well has been reclosed and rendered water-tight, the plugs are
withdrawn from the orifices and P, and the catchpit is restored to its working
condition. Throughout these operations, no danger to the public health is to be
apprehended.
The second compartment C is preferably provided with means, such as the
suspended cage c², for enabling antiseptic or deodorising agents (hereinafter more
particularly described) to be introduced, with the object of promoting the further
purification of the water before the latter overflows from that compartment to the
filtering apparatus D. The cover of the cage is made conical, in order that the
heavier impurities may have a tendency to glide off rather than to remain upon the
same. The chain, by means of which the cage is suspended, may be secured to the
same support as that provided for the tank or cask The latter contains an
antiseptic or deodorising chemical solution, to which precipitating agents may or may
not be added a suitable quantity thereof being periodically admitted to the partially
purified sink or other water under treatment by means of a tap or valve provided for
the purpose. I prefer to place a diaphragm ef between the inlet and the outlet es,
in order to cause the water under treatment to descend in the compartment O and
afterwards to ascend before passing through the outlet c, precipitation being aided
hereby. To allow for excess of inflowing water, the outlet from the second
compartment C is arranged at a convenient distance below the top of the first
compartment B. This arrangement also enables the liquid under treatment to pass
slowly through the straining canvases at c and c¹ and the filtering apparatus D;
efficient action of these appliances being thereby secured. The compartment C may
also be provided with means for enabling sludge to be removed therefrom.
The filtering apparatus consists of an open tank d, in which is mounted a container d³,
formed or provided with a perforated bottom and charged with carbon or other
suitable substance in a granular condition. At a short distance beneath the floor of
the container is arranged a filtering canvas &, carried in a suitable frame and
serving to arrest the grosser impurities. The filter d¹ and the canvas d² are both
removable at will for periodical renewal or cleansing. The arrangement of the parts,
as illustrated in the diagram, is such that the liquid is caused to pass through the
filtering canvas and the mass of carbon before escaping from the tank d, the solid
impurities remaining deposited in the said tank, whence they may be removed as
occasion requires means, such as already described with reference to the tank A,
being provided for the purpose. If the effluent water require further purification,
it may be caused to iraverse a second or a third filtering apparatus of the kind above
described. The purified water may be further oxygenated by being caused to flow
over a revolving spur-wheel such as e formed of or covered with carbon; the water
being thereby subjected to a process of aëration and the organic matters held in
solution becoming oxidised. The ultimate effluent liquid may be stored in a tank to
which the roof-water may also be led; and will be fit for stable or garden purposes,
or for admission to a neighbouring water-course.

page_text: The antiseptic or deodorising agents I prefer to employ in apparatus of the kind
hereinbefore described for the treatment of sink- and other waste water, consist of
cinder, coke, burnt ballast, slag, silicated carbon or similar absorbent material charged
with creosote, creosol, phenol or carbolic acid.
The precipitants appropriate for use in the manner herein before referred to may be
of the class adapted for acting by chemical or by mechanical agency, and may consist
of a solution of alum, or of sulphate of alumina, or of chloride or sulphate of iron, or of
chloride or carbonate of calcium, or of permanganic acid, or phosphate of alumina
dissolved in sulphuric or hydrochloric acid, to which milk of lime may be added.
The filtering materials I propose to use may be burnt ballast, crushed animal or
vegetable carbon, sand, naphthalene, lignite, small coal, coke, slag, spongy iron and the
like, employed separately or together, and preferably mixed with sulphate of alumina,
or sulphate of iron or other suitable chemical substance.
An important feature of this invention consists in the means whereby comparative
quiescence is preserved in the contents of the catchpit or subsiding tank A, thus
enabling the process of precipitation to proceed gradually and without serious
disturbance.
Having thus particularly described and ascertained the nature of this invention and
in what manner the same is to be performed, I claim :-
1. The improved means applicable for use in the purification of sink-water or for
like purposes and operating substantially as herein described.
2. In apparatus for the purification of sink-water or for like purposes, the
employment of two tanks or vessels through which the water successively flows and
in each of which a pendant curtain is arranged in such a manner as to cause the
water to partake of a downward and upward course; the fatty inatters and heavier
impurities being collected in the first tank, and precipitating, antiseptic or deodorising
agents being applied for the further purification of the water in the second tank.
3. The combination, with apparatus of the kind referred to in the preceding claiming
clause. of one or more filter-beds through which the effluent water is finally led,
substantially as and for the purposes herein set forth.
4. The employment, with apparatus of the kind herein referred to, of a receptacle such
as adapted for containing antiseptic or deodorising materials and of being lowered
into the water to be subjected to the action of such materials.
5. The employment, substantially as and for the purposes herein referred to, of a
spur-wheel such as e formed of or covered with carbon and so mounted as to be
exposed to the stream of effluent water, whereby the said wheel is rotated.
Fotel 21. 87I
1000
COOT
000T
Hotel 4 974
מודתעד
G. G. M. HARDINGHAM,
191, Fleet Street, London, E.C.,
Agent for the Applicant.
G. G. M. HARDINGHAM,
191, Fleet Street, London, E.C.,
Agent for the Applicant.