Report on the means of deodorising the sewage of Glasgow : addressed to the Sanitary Committee of the Town Council / by Thomas Anderson and John Frederic Bateman.

  • Anderson, Thomas, 1819-1874.
Date:
[1858]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report on the means of deodorising the sewage of Glasgow : addressed to the Sanitary Committee of the Town Council / by Thomas Anderson and John Frederic Bateman. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

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    cubes and retain its shape, contains 70 per cent, of water; and that in a state from which the water is merely drained off, as it would be retained upon a punt when dredging, it retains 86 per cent, water, hence, there will be in this state, as dredged, 415,525 tons per year, but in the more solid form, suitable for carting, 193,906 tons. All this, however, may not require to be dredged from the river, as portions may be carried down by the current, and also part may be decomposed and dissolved, giving off gaseous emanations, but in either way they deteriorate the Clyde; and this altogether apart from the soluble sewage matter's undergoing constant decomposition. In my experiments with the different precipitants, they were applied, with- out previously separating the solid matters floating in the sewage, and con- sequently, the weights obtained and referred to, include this solid matter. By Mr. Manning's matters, the quantity of precipitate deposited is fully five times more than the quantity of solid matter given above; and that by lime alone is two and one-half times the quantity given above, while that with lime, and St. Enoch's sewers does not exceed two times that given above. These will therefore stand as follows, taking it with 70 per cent, of water, which is the condition fit for cartage:— By Mr. Manning's process, ... 969,530 tons. By Lime alone, 484,765 By Lime and St. Enoch's, - - - - 367,812 The great excess by Mr. Manning's process is doubtless owing to the great quantity of insoluble matters in his precipitants. Should these deposits have a manurial value and a market obtained for them, Mr. Manning's materials yield by far thf largest product. Should it be advisable to use precipitants, and setting the manurial value of the deposit aside, and providing for its removal from the tanks or place of deposit, to prevent undue accumulation, I would suggest that the operations be performed near the river ; say that the whole sewage of the north side of the river was conducted by a main sewer to the side of Kelvin above the Clyde, the deposit could be lifted direct from the tanks by a seiies of buckets into punts, and conveyed either up or down the river to places of deposit, to fill up ground on the banks of the river, as is done with the dredging matter of the river at present, and thus much of the present dredging of the river saved, and the water kept clear and free of nuisance. A similar arrangement could be made for the south side of the River. Or were the liquid refuse let out from St. Rollox Works, which could be greatly increased in quantity and value by dissolving the accumulating peroxide of iron, referred to in a former part of this Report, supplied at the fountain, head to Pinkstone, St. Enoch's, and Molendinar Burns, the principal portion of the city would thus be deodorised; and if led into tanks, as suggested, • all the sewers from ether sources will thus be mixed and deodorised without any precipitants, and the solid matters prevented going into the river ; and although it will not be valuable as a manure, it will be excellent for filling up. Another question suggested itself during these operations, which is clearly connected with the composition of the sewers and the interest of the river— namely, the effect these sewage waters will have upon the sheathing of vessels lying in the river.