Specification of George Rydill : treating sewage.

  • Rydill, George.
Date:
1875
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Specification of George Rydill : treating sewage. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    7/18 (page 5)
    Specification. A.D. 1875.—N° 399. JRy dill's Improvements in Apparatus for Treating Sewage. pregnated with sulphuric, muriatic, nitric, and other acids, as well as other impurities. Such sewage and polluted waters are mostly used for condensing the steam in condensing steam engines. Supplying the steam boilers with water in a polluted condition causes the bottom of 5 steam boilers to be heavily charged with dark impure substances, causing boilers to prime and valves to choke up. To purify the said sewage and polluted waters I treat them with caustic soda liquid in a vessel, tank, or reservoir, to precipitate the heavy sub¬ stances. I then pass the clear top water through a filter of sieved ground 10 or crushed ashes, so that the filtered waters are perfectly clear. This method of treating sewage and polluted waters prevents soap, greasy, and oily waters from passing into the steam boilers to form insoluble soapy matters with the lime salts present in the water forming a deposit and incrustation. The sewage and polluted waters may be treated with 15 caustic soda before or after they pass into the hot well. Treating sewage and polluted waters with caustic soda liquid not only precipitates the said dye colouring matters, but after filtering the same it prevents priming in steam boilers and removes incrustation. I have now described in what manner I procure clear water from 20 sewage and polluted streams, but as soap and grease collects in the drains and sewers with other refuse matters, polluted waters do from many causes, such as drains not always being in use, so that stagnant polluted waters remain for days or weeks together, by which the organic matter becomes decomposed, and depriving the water of oxygen renders it 25 impossible for the higher organisms to live in it unless it absorbs from the atmosphere enough oxygen to replace that consumed. It is almost impossible to remove entirely by Alteration all trace of such contami¬ nation, so that the matter requires to be oxidized to cause the waters to be unobjectionable for use. I therefore pass the waters which have been 30 filtered or cleared into a reservoir or channel of any required depth, but I prefer it not so deep when the saving of power is of moment. I place along the reservoir or channel bottom, or near its bottom, perforated pipes, which may be lengthways or crossways. The ends of the perforated pipes are unpierced, so that they may pass through the side 35 or sides or end of the reservoir or channel, which may be made up with a moveable plate. The perforated pipes fixed near to or along the bottom may be connected with each other or kept separate, and I