Improvements in Tanks and Apparatus for use in connection with the same for the Purification and Treatment of Sewage and Impure Waters.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 27th Jan., 1897
Complete Specification Left, 27th Oct., 1897-Accepted, 15th Jan.,
1898
Improvements in Tanks and Apparatus for use in connection with the
same for the Purification and Treatment of Sewage and Impure
Waters.
I, FRANCIS WARRINGTON STRONG, of High Peak, West Cliff Road, Bournemouth,
in the County of Hants, Civil and Sanitary Engineer, do hereby declare the nature
of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to improvements in the construction and arrangement of
tanks and the apparatus in connection with the same; al-o in the method of using
such tanks with their inlet and outlet aparatus for the treatment of sewage and
impure waters in a simple and effective manner.
In carrying my invention into effect in constructing a precipitation tank, I arrange
it with a gutter at the lower end of same-preferably on one side thereof, into
which the sludge may pass and from which gutter the sludge may be led off into
a separate chamber from which the sludge outlet pipe draws off the sludge when
the valve in conection with the pipe has been opened. I arrange my gutters so that
the sludge or sediment may fall or be scraped therein by hand or by mechanical
appliances, the sludge gutter having sometimes beneath it a sludge chamber
covered by a grid or series of grids or valves or other lids, any or all of which may
be opened from the upper end of the tank for permitting the sludge to enter the
chamber through the reduced or perforated openings formed in the bottom of
the sludge gutter which makes the entrance or cover of the sludge chamber. I
sometimes make a cover as a revolving segmental seat which can be manipulated
to open or close the openings into the sludge chamber by a chain or other suitable
device worked from above. The slot or opening in the sludge chamber cover I
clean by a brush or by a bolt which I draw through by.hand or by other arrange-
ments.
I arrange an improved scraper or scrapers or a combined scraper and hood to
travel on rails or to be otherwise drawn through a tank each side of the slot and
scraper being provided with flexible squeegees of india-rubber or other suitable
material, and arranged that it may be worked backwards and forwards over the
tank floor and when so desired provided with springs or levers and weights to allow
it to accommodate itself to any uneven part of the floor.
The scraper and hood I move from one side to the other by means of a lever or
levers or wheel and chains or by other suitable means, and arranged so that it
may be locked and kept well bearing on the floor or at any suitable distance off if
required so that it may not act on the return journey. I also use my improved
scraper for cleaning travelling sludge pipes or receivers.
I make the entrances into my sludge chambers in connection with my improved
tanks with continuous openings preferably bevelled with the smaller portion at
the top preferably, although the openings may be of any form and covered with
suitably shaped lids for allowing a part or the whole to be opened as may be
desired.

page_text: The end chamber I prefer to fit with a paddle or valve which leads into a manhole
or sludge outlet pipe so that on opening the paddle or valve the sludge will be forced
up to within a short distance of the water level in the tank and this manhole or
sludge outlet pipe I arrange so that a bucket or other shaped receiver can be placed
beneath the sludge chamber outlet for the reception of solid matter which may then
be drawn up if necessary. I place in connection with the bolt for keeping the
slot clean of my sludge chamber, suitable scrapers, or I employ separate indepen-
dent scrapers for cleaning the chamber or the gutter.
I make my filters in the form of a frame having a screen or straining bed such
as sacking, asbestos or other like material, or a number of trays containing sand
or other filtering media which may be arranged within one or more combination frames
mounted in such a manner as to be readily removable for cleaning. I prefer to make
my frames with a hinge so that they can be easily removed. The partition dividing
the tank from the sludge outlet I carry upon brick or other arches having iron
or other girders near the bottom for supporting the same, suitable passages being
made for giving entrances from the sludge gutter into the sludge outlet chamber,
and I arrange a number of valves or outlet pipes within the one chamber to suit
any particular demand.
I mount the syphon or pump or syphon and pump combined in connection with
my improved tanks or otherwise so that it may travel by hand or power along the
wall of one of a series of tanks, the suction end of the syphon or pump being
suitably shaped to take up the sludge as it, travels to the bottom, the end being
also made when so desired with a scraper and squegee attached. I make my
continuous opening collecting pipe to be attached to the lower end of the syphon
pipe so that the whole surface may be passed over by the moving pipe. In con-
nection with this travelling pipe I employ a flexible or movable joint at or near
the top to enable the syphon to be lifted up to clear any wall or other obstruction
which may divide one tank from another. I make my tanks sometimes of
circular form and I use a central sewage inlet partially and sometimes entirely as
a sludge outlet or I may have a central inlet tube fitted partly over the central
sludge outlet chamber or tube as a sleeve of the latter. The sewage if entering at
the top will pass down avoiding the sludge outlet arm, the entrance to which I
close, by a suitable valve or paddle, and when the sewage has fallen sufficiently
down the central tube I arrest its downward motion and allow it to pass out through
openings in the side of the central tube into a partition or gutter of any suitable
shape running around the central tube, and having strainers or filtering frames
in connection with the same as before described. I sometimes arrange a revolving
arm or sludge collecting branch to work in the central portion of the chamber, the
arm being formed with a continuous opening at the end of the side for the sludge
to enter, this opening being kept clear by scrapers or the like as hereinbefore
described. I rotate this collecting arm by a handle or gearing arranged in any
ordinary manner, and from this revolving arm I place an outlet branch into which
the sludge will pass. Within my tank I form suitable gutter or gutters or
chambers having scrapers or cleaners arranged therein and having also the sludge
chambers as hereinbefore described, with their valves, over the entrances thereof.
The tank may have a circular gutter divided if desired into compartments arranged
at the bottom with a mound or cone in the centre forming a bearing for the shaft
when so desired.
I sometimes divide my circular tank with a cylinder or circular wall or partition
into two chambers so that the sewage on leaving the first filtering frame passes
downwards and up around the annular space escaping through further strainers
passed below the water level or otherwise into troughs or other collectors. I may
form a plain circular continuous or divided gutter at the bottom of my tank into
which dip one or more collecting arms having when so desired scrapers in connec-
tion with the same. These arms may be rotated when desired.
Instead of a plain circular gutter I may form my gutter and lower chamber as
hereinbefore described for ordinary tanks.

page_text: In connection with my improved filters or clarifiers I may employ stirring arms
or revolving cleaners, and in order to prevent the obstruction of the grids or per-
forated false bottoms in connection with my improved apparatus and my clarifiers,
I form excrescences or projecting studs upon the plates which prevent the openings
from being entirely covered or choked by stones or the like. I sometimes ventilate
the spaces between the filter plates by means of tubes when so desired. I arrange
side door or doors for easy inspection and renewal of the filtering media.
I arrange my travelling collecting pipe so that it may run on wheels rails or
other supports, the entrance to the pipe being through the continuous openings
arranged as hereinbefore described, and cleaned similarly to the manner herein-
before described for cleaning my continuous inlet for the trough or gutters. I
may fix my revolving hood and scraper to this travelling pipe or sludge collector.
I clean my scraping rake by forming fixed or moving teeth upon another portion
of my scraper or hood which act as a comb to the rake teeth.
I do not limit the application of my invention to any particular form of tank
or to any particular shape of fittings as hereinbefore described, and 1 use the
outlet branch as the inlet branch for reversing the action of my improved con-
struction of tanks and apparatus, and I otherwise modify the arrangement set forth
to suit any particular requirement.
Dated this 97th lave of Tan 1907
MARKS & CLERK,
18, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., and
13, Temple Street, Birmingham, Agents.
Improvements in Tanks and Apparatus for use in connection with the
same for the Purification and Treatment of Sewage and Impure
Waters.
I, FRANCIS WARRINGTON STRONG, of The Grange, Gorleston, Great Yarmouth,
in the County of Norfolk, (formerly of High Peak, West Cliff Road, Bournemouth,
in the County of Hants), Civil and Sanitary Engineer, do hereby declare the nature
of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particu-
larly described and ascertained in and by the following statement:―
This invention relates to improvements in the construction and arrangement of
tanks and the apparatus in connection with the same; also in the method of using
such tanks with their inlet and outlet apparatus for the treatment of sewage and
impure waters in a simple and effective manner.
The different methods of carrying this invention into effect are illustrated in
the accompanying diagrammatic drawings as follows.
Figure 1 is a part sectional elevation of a tank showing the improvements
applied to the precipitation method of purifying and treating sewage.
Figure 2 is a plan of Figure 1 with the hinged flap A removed.
Figure 3 is a modified arrangement of the sludge gutter shown in Figure 1.
Figures 4, 5, 6 and 7 are details of the sludge scraping and collecting mechanism
applicable to the different methods for use in purifying and treating sewage.
Figure 8 is a part sectional elevation of a tank showing the improvements
applied to the filtering method of treating and purifying sewage.
Figure 9 is a part sectional elevation of a tank showing the application of an
improved overhead syphon or pipe and pump to remove the sludge.
Figure 10 is a plan illustrating the arrangement of a series of tanks with the
devices shown in the last figure applied.

page_text: Figure 11 is a sectional elevation showing the improvements applied to a circular
tank with filtering screens for separating the effluent and an overhead syphon or
pump to remove the sludge.
Figure 12 is a sectional elevation of a circular tank showing the improvements
applied to the precipitation method of purifying and treating sewage.
Figure 13 is a further modification of the arrangement shown at Figure 12.
Figure 14 is a sectional elevation of a clarifier for further purification of the
effluent.
In carrying this invention into effect in constructing a precipitation tank as
illustrated in Figures 1, 2 and 3 of the drawings, the sewage is passed into the
tank B which is arranged with a gutter Cat the lower end of the same and pre-
ferably at one side thereof. The untreated sewage is fed into the tank at a point
preferably arranged over the gutter C so that upon precipitation the sludge mainly
falls into that gutter; the other portion falling upon the floor 1) of the tank, and
from there being scraped into the gutter by suitable mechanism hereinafter to be
described. From the gutter C the sludge falls into a separate chamber E from
which the sludge outlet pipe F, (Figure 2) draws it off when the valve G leading
to the pipe has been opened. The sludge chamber E can be built in either brick,
concrete, iron or other suitable materials, and it has arranged upon its upper
portion an iron plate H in which a slot I (preferably bevelled with the smaller
portion at the top) running nearly the whole length of the gutter is placed.
Covering this slot I there is placed a flap valve A (Figure 1) hinged at J and
cperated by the chain K when it is desired to effect a communication between the
sludge chamber E and the gutter C.
Instead of using the flap valve A between the sludge gutter C and the chamber E
a reiary segmental valve L such as that shown at Figure 3 may be adopted, this
valva being pivotted at M and manipulated by the chain K when required, or
opened by revolving the same on a shaft acted on from above. It is also evident
that the iron plate H may have a series of perforated grids instead of the single
slot I, and these perforated grids or openings could be similarly covered by a
single flap valve or by a series of rotary or flap valves such as those already
described, and manipulated to open or close the openings into the sludge chamber
by chains or other suitable devices worked from above so that a part of the gutter
or the whole may be put into communication with the sludge chamber as desired.
Upon the tank (Figure 2) at one end there is placed a trap or man-hole N forming
a chamber which communicates from the sludge chamber to the outlet pipe F
while placed within the tank opposite this trap N is the valve G so that when it is
desired this valve is opened, and the head effluent in the tank forces the sludge
past the open valve A along the sludge chamber into the trap N and out through
the pipe into any suitable receptacle. This sludge outlet pipe F is placed a few
feet below the water level of the tank so that the head of pressure in the tank can
thus be utilised when it is required to remove the solid matter and sludge. At both
ends of the slot I enlarged openings P and Q are formed, the opening P being
preferably used for flushing the sludge chamber, while the opening Q allows large
detritus such as stones and the like to pass through, and these openings are arranged
with suitable lids or valves.
Upon Figure 4 there is shown in cross section the plate H with its slot I, while
riding in that slot I is a double flange bolt O having attached to it at P a chain or
other suitable device. This bolt O when the slot I has become jammed or fouled
with solid matter is pulled by the chain or its equivalent backwards and forwards
along the slot and thus removes the obstructing material, causing it to fall down
into the sludge chamber, and this bolt when not in operation can be pulled into a
suitable receptacle formed in either of the enlarged openings P, Q, (see Figure 2).
Upon Figure 5 of the drawings there is shown a sludge scraping and collecting
device placed upon suitable rails on the bottom of the tank. It consists of a
trolley R carrying an iron structure S upon which is mounted a hood T pivotted
at U, and having fixed to it at its opposite ends flexible squegees V V¹ of india-

page_text: rubber or other suitable material. These squegees can be swung upon the pivot by
chains or other suitable devices worked from the top of the tank so that either of
them Vor V may be brought into contact with the tank floor, and the trolley can
be worked backwards and forwards over the said floor, so that the sludge or detritus.
may be scraped into the sludge gutter C. This combined scraper and hood can
be swivelled on its pivot U and locked in any position, the squegees either bearing
heavily on the tank floor, or locked at any given distance from the floor as may be
required, and the hood may be also provided with springs or levers and weights to
allow the squegees to accommodate themselves to any uneven part of the floor.
The mechanism used for pulling the trolley along the tank while scraping the
sludge is operated from above the water level. This device is specially adaptable
when the precipitation method is used in purifying sewage, and when the tanks are
constructed in the manner herein before described with reference to Figures 1, 2
and 3 of the drawings.
In Figure 6 in sectional elevation there is shown a sludge collecting device
adaptable to tanks where no gutter and sludge chamber is employed, and this
sludge collecting device consists of a combination of the hood and squegees herein-
before described with reference to Figure 5, and a syphon pipe arranged in the
manner now to be described. The syphon pipe W is mounted upon a trolley R
running upon suitable rails or the like placed on the bottom of the tank, and upon
the top flange or other suitable portion of the pipe the pivot U is situated carrying
a hood T with squegees V V1 while the bottom of the pipe has a slot X running its
entire length, the cross section of the slot being preferably. wider at its inner portion
as shown. Connected to one end of the pipe is a syphon or pump which leads from
the pipe to the upper level of the tank and out to any suitable discharge receptacle,
such as a gutter running in the side wall the entire length of the tank.
In operation the trolley R pulled over the floor from one side to the other,
either of the squegees V V being used according to the direction of motion of the
trolley and the result of this is that the sludge is forced up through the slot X into
the pipe W, and from there syphoned or pumped out into the gutter referred to.
Any suitable mechanism may be used for pulling the trolley to and fro and for
operating the hood T upon its pivot U in the manner hereinhefore described with
reference to Figure 5 of the drawings.
The improved device shown on Figure 7 of the drawings consists in the combina-
tion of a series of comb shaped teeth 73, with a revolving rake 7 passing round the
pulleys Zso arranged that the teeth of the rake intermesh or scrape over a
screen Y through which the sewage enters and remove obstructions such as hair,
sticks and the like, the said obstructions being taken off the teeth by the comb Z³
and thrown on to the board Y¹.
The improvements applied to the filtering method of treating and purifying
sewage are illustrated in part section on Figure 8. The sewage enters by the
inlet channel A' and passing over a sill A² down the division B' rises up into the
sludge gutter C, the effluent finally passing through the frame D into the tank B,
but when the sludge is being drawn off the sewage enters the tank through a
suitable valve A3, and for the time being does not pass down behind the parti-
tion G. The frame or frames D₁ have a screen or straining bed such as sacking,
asbestos or other like material, or a number of trays containing sand or other
filtering media may be arranged with one or more combination frames mounted in
such a manner as to be readily removable for cleaning, and to make the frames as
a whole readily removable they are preferably arranged with a sliding hinge E¹.
These filtering frames D' may be lifted up by rods or chains fastened at F" so that
they lie back against the partition wall Ġ¹ and allow hoods and scrapers such as
hereinbefore described to be used to clear or scrape any extra detritus from the
bottom of the tank into the sludge gutter. The partition G¹ dividing the tank
from the sludge outlet is carried upon brick or other arches at H having iron or
other girders near the bottom of the sludge gutter for supporting the same,
suitable passages J¹ being made for giving entrances from the sludge gutter into

page_text: the sludge outlet chamber, and a number of valves or outlet pipes may be arranged
at the portions J₁ to meet any particular demand. The sludge chamber outlet
pipe is shown leading from the outer wall of the division chamber B₁ and this
outlet pipe has a slide valve L' which is opened when it is desired to remove the
sludge from the tank and there may be one or more of these outlets as required.
The construction and arrangement of the devices used to remove the sludge from
the tank by swivelling pipes leading to the upper level is clearly shown in
sectional elevation at Figure 9, and in plan at Figure 10. In this arrangement
the tank B has an ordinary sludge gutter C situated underneath the level of the
tank floor, while à second sludge gutter C is arranged on one wall of the tank with
the gutter level coinciding with that of the tank, and placed upon the dividing
partition between the gutter and the tank B are rails upon which a trolley or
trolleys M run. These trolleys M₁ have fixed upon them a half syphon pipe N
whose lower end projects into the sludge gutter C while its upper end is connected
at O¹ to a flexible joint carrying the other half of the syphon pipe P1 and the
bottom end of this second half has fixed to it both or either of the scraping devices
hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 5 and 6 of the drawings, these
devices and the lower end of the half syphon pipe P projecting into the gutter C
as shown. Fixed upon the half syphon pipe P at or near the water level is a
valve Q which can be closed when the syphon pipe is being swivelled out of one
tank into another. Thus a single sludge collecting syphon pipe can be used for a
series of tanks, the rails on the walls and the sludge gutter C being placed con-
tinuously along one side of the said series of tanks, as clearly shown on the plan
Figure 10.
The arrangement of these tanks in series, with their bottom sludge gutter C and
single top sludge gutter C and the syphon pipe PI is clearly shown on the plan
referred to, and it is evident that this construction could also be used if a pump
were adopted to draw the sludge up the pipe P¹ into the sludge gutter C instead of
a syphon limb as herein before described and illustrated.
A circular tank with the improvements applied and arranged with overhead
sludge withdrawal devices is illustrated in Figure 11, and is constructed and
operated as follows:-Into a centre pipe Q₁ the unseparated sewage is admitted from
the top pipe Q2 and channel Q³, and this sewage passes through the sliding valve
or valves R' when open in the direction shown by the arrows, the effluent finally
passing out of the filtering frames S¹ and into an annular space T¹ and the further
course of the effluent is then down underneath the partition U₁ up into an outer
annular space V situated between the walls of the tank and that partition. The
effluent finally passes up and through a second series of filtering frames W, and
flows away from there purified. At the bottom of the central pipe and attached
thereto is a double scraping pipe B2 B2 constructed with squegees or the like in
the manner herein before described with reference to Figure 6, and this double
scraper pipe when it is desired to collect the sludge is put into communication
with the pipe Q by the flap or pull out valve A2 being operated. Thus to collect
the sludge from the bottom gutters C C of the tank the pipe Q with its double
collecting arms B2 B32 is rotated by the cog-wheels C2 C3 suitably driven by the
power shaft C+
When it is desired to withdraw the sludge the outlet pipe or channel D² being at
the same time put into communication with the pipe Q' as a pump or syphon pipe
similar to that previously described is applied to the outlet D3; the valve E² being
then open when the sludge is withdrawn. The sewage is cut off from the pipe Q¹
during the withdrawal of the sludge by means of a paddle or valve Q, and does
not pass down into the pipe Q', but overflows through Q into the central zone
or annulus T¹.
Figure 12 shows a modification of the last described arrangement where the
sludge is withdrawn not from an overhead pump or syphon, but from a circular
sludge chamber F2, this chamber being clearly shown in Figure 12. The sludge
is sent or scraped into the chamber F by the devices hereinbefore referred to with

page_text: reference to Figure 5. The squegees and hoods are mounted so as to scrape the
conical portion G2 of the tank bottom, and they are rotated by the vertical shaft H2
in any suitable manner. The circular gutter F if desired may be divided into
compartments, and it is to be understood that the other arrangements not shown in
this partial section, but described with reference to Figures 1, 2 and 3 of the
drawings, may be applied if so desired.
The circular tank with an overhead sludge removing device may be constructed
in the manner shown in Figure 13 of the drawings, the variation from the pre-
ceding two modifications being simply that the bottom of the tank is horizontal,
while the sludge collecting device K is rotated by a hollow shaft L' connected to a
syphon or pump. The sludge collecting device K¹ may be constructed similarly
to that hereinbefore described with reference to Figure 6 of the drawings, and in
connection there may be employed revolving cleaners in order to present the
obstruction of the grids or sludge collecting chamber F2.
Referring to Figure 14 of the drawings which illustrate in vertical section a
clarifier for further purification of the sewage effluent, the effluent enters by the
pipe a and sinks into the sand or other suitable filtering media b. It then passes
through the double grid c d consisting of a perforated floor d protected from
choking up by excrescences or knobs c and runs down into the successive
filters until it finally passes out by the pipe e in a purified condition. A
vertical shaft carries rakes g which serve to agitate the filtering media when so
desired, and doors are arranged over each layer to permit of inspection and
withdrawal and renewal of the media when required. The spaces between each
superimposed filter bed may be ventilated by tubes leading from them to the atmos-
phere placed and connected in any suitable manner.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:-
-
1. In tanks and apparatus for purifying and treating sewage and impure waters
by precipitation, the arrangement in combination of a sludge gutter underneath
the level of the tank, a sludge chamber centrally underneath the sludge gutter, a
grid or grids covered by flap or rotary valves and connecting the gutter with the
chamber when desired, all substantially as and for the purposes hereinbefore
described with reference to Figures 1, 2 and 3 of the accompanying drawings.
2. In tanks and apparatus for purifying and treating sewage and impure waters
the sludge scraping and collecting device substantially as herein before described
with reference to Figure 5 of the accompanying drawings.
3. In tanks and apparatus for purifying and treating sewage and impure waters
the sludge scraping and collecting device substantially as hereinbefore described
with reference to Figure 6 of the accompanying drawings.
4. In tanks and apparatus for purifying and treating sewage and impure waters,
the improved combined comb and revolving rake substantially as and for the
purposes hereinbefore described with reference to Figure 7 of the accompanying
drawings.
5. The improvements in tanks and apparatus for purifying and treating sewage
and impure waters substantially as and for the purposes herein before described
with reference to Figure 8 of the accompanying drawings.
6. In tanks and apparatus for purifying and treating sewage and impure waters,
the sludge removing devices specially applicable to tanks arranged in series, con-
sisting of a sludge gutter at the bottom of each tank in combination with a second
sludge gutter running the entire length of the series of tanks, and at or about the
water level of the sewage contained therein, while a single swivelling syphon or
pump pipe carried on a trolley runs on suitable rails on one of the tank walls
parallel with the sludge gutters and permits the sludge to be syphoned or pumped
from the tank sludge gutter into the upper and exterior sludge gutter, and a
swivel joint on the longest limb permitting each tank to be cleared in turn, all

page_text: substantially as herein before described with reference to Figures 9 and 10 of the
accompanying drawings.
7. In tanks and apparatus for purifying and treating sewage and impure waters
the improvements applicable to circular tanks hereinbefore described and illus-
trated with reference to Figures 11, 12 and 13 of the accompanying drawings.
8. In tanks and apparatus for treating sewage and impure waters the improve-
ments in filter beds and clarifiers substantially as hereinbefore described with
reference to Figure 14 of the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 5th dos of T1000
MARKS & CLERK,
18, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., and
13, Temple Street, Birmingham, Agents.