Practical suggestions by Mr. Rogers Field, M. Inst. C.E., as to water supply, drainage, and sewage disposal for lunatic asylums / issued by the Commissioners in Lunacy.

  • Field, Rogers.
Date:
1892
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Practical suggestions by Mr. Rogers Field, M. Inst. C.E., as to water supply, drainage, and sewage disposal for lunatic asylums / issued by the Commissioners in Lunacy. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    to the irrigation, much trouble may result. The danger is that the sewage, instead of percolating through a sufficient extent of ground to become purified, may find its way directly into the land drains, and thus render the effluent from these little else than crude sewage. In the case of porous land this danger can be avoided by making the drains deep and at a considerable distance apart,, and then, wherever possible, constructing paths over the drains so that no sewage can be applied close to them. In the case of retentive land, such as clay, on the other hand, the difficulty of avoiding a -direct passage of sewage to the drains is so great on account of the cracking of the clay that -some authorities advise that such land should not be drained at all when sewage has to be applied to it. This, however, appears to be wrong in principle, and a better solution would be to lay out the drainage so that the effluent from the land t-o which the sewage is first applied can always be reapplied to land at a lower level specially prepared to receive it. (60.) Before the sewage is applied to the land, the rags, paper, ^|f^ePtion and solid matters should be intercepted. This will be best effected by a simple form of straining chamber, the bottom of which is rather above the bottom of the outlet, so that the liquid sewage passes through the chamber without any obstruction, and only the solids are held back by the strainer. The straining chamber should be in duplicate and the solids should be removed every day and mixed with dry earth or ashes, when they will be inoffensive. Settling tanks in which the solids are allowed to deposit should always be avoided as they give rise to putrefaction, and are thus not only a nuisance in themselves, but contravene the important principle that the sewage should be applied fresh to the land. Moreover, the semi¬ fluid “sludge” which is deposited in the settling tanks is most offensive and difficult to deal with. (61.) In order that the disposal of the sewage by application Necessity of to land should be successful, it is absolutely essential that mtelli- p/oper atten- d tion to distn- but ion. the sewage on the land in a careful and efficient manner. This is a matter that is too often neglected, the result being a failure which is frequently attributed to the system of disposal instead of to the true cause, viz., faults in the management. gent attention should be constantly paid to the distribution Rogers Fjeld.