New Britain Herald Newspaper, July 9, 1914, Page 2

Builders of Sewer Beds Are ~ Firedon By Mayoralty Guns 1% : Y“Cinnot Be Too Severely Criticized for Gross Careless- ‘ness,” Says ‘Quigley—Council Authorizes Commit- tee to Look Up New System for New Britain. In order to permit the city to get . down to bed rock in treating its sew- {age problem, one of the largest enigmas to be taken up by the pres- ent administration, the common coun- cil at a special meeting last evening authorized Mayor George A. Quigley to appoint a committee of four to in- ‘vestigate sewage plants and to Te- iport to the council a system that they believe will be feasible for New Brit- ain. The committee will consist of {Mayor Quigley, Chairman E. ' N. Humphrey of the board of ‘works, City Engineer Willlam H. Hall ,and a manufacturer yet to be select- ed. The council authorized the ex- penditure of not more than $1,000 by the committee during its investigation. Mayor Quigley read a special | ‘message on the state of affairs at the :sewer beds in Berlin and appended to ‘it a report from George W. Fuller of -New York, a sanitary engineer, who ‘investigated conditions at the beds. “<') * Sharp Raps From Mayor. In his message the mayor attacked | the men who had charge of installing 'the present beds, saying: “The men ,Who had charge of the work of in- ,Stalling these beds cannot be too .severely criticized for their gross care- .lessness in not studying more closely ithe then existing sewage problem of New Eritain,” | Sanitary Engineer Fuller recom- mended the installation of a sprinkler stem with Imhoff tanks. This would Jcost approximately $400,000 to install .and $15,000 per year to maintain. He also spoke of another system, but did not recommenad it. The great problem that New Britain (faces in regard to its sewage dis- f/posal plant, the engineer’s report stat- ‘ed, was the large amount of iron that scapes into the beds from factory pickling vats. This clogs the bed, ‘which he found to be seriously over- [ loaded and grossly overtaxed. He also iTeported that it would be cheaper in jthe long run to build new beds than 0 make repairs from vear to year. hAnother statement in the report was “that the beds are practically of no 'alue at present, The system he rec- Jjommended is used. successfully iIn ading, Pa.,, and Atlanta, Ga. Mayor Quigley’s message follows: “I have been investigating, for the st two months, the condition of the wer disposal plant in Berlin and 1 ish {to' report tonight to this body conditions I found to exist. - ‘At first T hesitated. to officially fbring to your attention the condition f this plant, beleving that: possibly onditions might ‘be improved Wwith & mall expenditure and that publicity this matter would be against the st interest of the city, but, after an estigation extending over a period two months, I came to the con- elusion that it is no longer possible d neither is it good policy to ' cons eal from the citizens of New Britain he real facts concerning our sewage isposal plant. “The failure of this plant to prop- rly , treat crude sewage has been ognized by the board of public rks for several yeafs, and efforts fmade by the board to remedy the onditions have beén futile. “The men who had charge of the work of installing these beds cannot too severely criticised for thelr oss carelessness in not studying ore closely the then existing sew- e problem of New Britain, “Thousands of dollars have been jpent upon repair and maintenance the sewage beds, people threaten- Ing to bring law suits for the pollu- fion of the brooks and streams have been bought off at large expense, and e have now arrived at a crisis here immediate action must be tak- “After my two -months’ investiga- I decided that someone must be onsulted whose opinfon would set at any doubts I had in‘my mind re- ding the true condition of the ‘age disposal plant. “With that end in view, George W. uller of New York, a sanitary engl- er of national repute, was hired by the board of public works to come to lew Britain to give his opinion as to hat our problem really was. “After a very careful investigation the conditions existing, Mr. Fuller turned to New York and on Tues- we received his report which 1 rewith append as part of my mess to your honorable body. “After reading this report you n form some idea of the sewage lisposal problem that confronts this “Recognizing the imperative neea It immediate action, I instructed the rd of public works to rebuild bea 20 at the sewage disposal plant expense of hich was done at an .$860. “This bed with four or five others, pnstructed on the same plan, win ttora some relief until‘ we can decide pon a new method of treating sew- at the disposal plant. “We must bear in mind, however, t we face a possible expenditure of ween $400,000 and $500,000 to iny 1f a new system, and, until we can e definite action we must be care- 1 as'to the expenditure of money i the present plant as any relief t we can get is at best merely tem- #Recognizing the need for imme- te action, I would recommend that mayor be authorized to appoint a ymmittee of four, ' ineluding the lent of the board of public works, carefully investigate the matter ot 4 re disposal plant and that this mittee be authorized to visit two three sewage disposal plants, such 48 recommended by Mr. Fuller, d to consult such sanitary engineers hey may wish to aid them In heir investigation. public ! “I would also recommend that an appropriation of $1,000 be made to carry on the work of this committee. “I do not, at this time, wish to comment upon Mr. Fuller’s report. 1 would rather leave that to the com- mittee for investigation. “1 would, hpwever, request that you carefully read Mr. Fuller's report in order that you may understand the two systems mentioned and familiar- !ize yourselt with the conditions of , our present system.' i When Mayor Quigley concluded : reading his message Alderman Law- ; Yer moved that it be accepted. Al- | derman Christ introduced resolutions | covering the points in the mayor's recommendations, Pres. Humphrey Talks. . President Humphrey of the board of public works stated that he agreed with Engineer Fuller regarding the great problem, the iron in the sewage. He said the Stanley Works had spent thousands of dollars In experimenting in an effort to remove the iron at its source. The,sewage question is one that confronts every inland city, and no city in the country has a plant that is completely satisfactory, he said. It would not be advisable to continue to make repairs every year, Mr. Humph- rey thought. The only way to get right at the roots of the matter is to build a permanent plant. Councilman Paonessa suggested that it might be a good idea for New Britain and other cities to build a big trunk sewer to the sea, but Presi- dent Humphrey stated that in the near future, he believed, Hartford will be ordered to remove its sewage from the Connecticut river and shore towns will be ordered to rémove theirs frém the sea. Alderman Christ said that while he did not want to shut off further talk, he did not believe the council could get any more light by discussing the matter, as it is composed of laymen who have no technical knowledge of the subject. He called for the adop- tion of the resolution regarding the appointment of the committee. This was done and it was also decided to vote the committee $1,000 from the incidental fund. Engineer Fuller’s Report. The report of Engineer Fuller fol- lows: “Pursuant to your request I visited New Britain on June 27 last, inspected the system of sanitary sewers, and particularly the sewage disposal works, with a view to recommending the ,moat . economical and effective means of remedying thé unsatistactory conditions now resulting from the overfoading of the present sewage treatment works, N “I have received from Willlam H. Hall, city engineer, various data bear- ing upon the local cost of materials of comstruction, as well as maps and records showing the. existing plant, and particularly information bearing upon the manufacturing plants in the city now discharging trade wastes into the sanitary sewers. “I have also received from your chemist, M. W..Davehport, a° memo- randum showing typical analysis of the sewage in earlier years, as well as records of weir readings and analyses of sewage as shown by sam- ples collected at intervals from 9 a. m., June 30, to 8 a. m,, July 2, 1914, “I shall now proceed to state the facts with respect to the existing works and the problem with which they have to deal, and then record my advice as to improvements needed in order to secure most econorically the proper degree of treatment for the sewage of New Britain, which in 1910 had a population of 43,916, New Britain Sewage Disposal Works. “These works have been in service some ten years or more and consist of two small settling basins with earth embankments and bottom, and some thirty-seven acres of intermittent filters, the material of which consists of gravel and sand intermingled with more or less clay. At the present time filter beds are quite thoroughly im- pregnated with iron rust coming from the pickling liquors entering into the sanitary sewers. “These works are located in the town of Berlin about one-half mile east of the main line tracks of the New York, New Haven and Hartford raflroad. The gravity outfall sewer from the -city to the plant extends for about one and one-half miles be- yond the built-up portion of the city. The Middletown branch of the New York, New Haven and Hartford rail- road passes through the plant, as is true of one country road. A second country road with a number of houses upon it runs parallel and fairly close to the disposal works. “The amount of water consumed by New Britain is sald to approximate 4.5 million gellons daily. Storm water has been separated completely from the existing sanitary sewers con- veying the household and trade wastes of the, city to the disposal works. Together with the spent water sup- ply, there is some infilteration of ground water into the sewers, as well {as some liquids obtained from man- ufacturing plants which have water supplies of their own. During hot weather it is said that about 5.5 to 6.0 million gallons daily of sewage reaches the disposal works. ‘“Weir measurements taken June 30 to July 2 indicate that at different hours the rate of sewage flow from about 1.7 to 6.1 amounted to 3.4 and 4.2 million gallons respectively. “At times of heavy rainfall the in- filteration of ground water may in- crease these flows for a short period to a rate of perhaps 10,000,000 lons per twenty-four hours. “One of the most conspicuous fea- tures of New Britain sewage is the i NEW BRITAIN DAILY HERALD, THURSDAY, JULY 9, 1914 amotnt of iron it contains. This iron ; comes from the pickling liquors used in a dozen or more manufacturing plants in the city. “It is significant to note that there was no free acid present in the sew- age at any time during the investi- gations made last week. Although | the city water supply is unusually soft, it appears that trade wastes con- tain sufficient alkali to neutralize all of the unused portions of the acid employed as a pickling liquor at the various manufacturing plants. All of the analyses of New Britain sew- age that we have examined indicate a high quality of mineral matter dis- solved in the sewage. ‘“Unquestionably the ‘iron wastes have been an important factor in the clogging of the existing filters and have interfered seriously with their efficient operation. As I understand the situation, the iron wastes for the most part could be kept out of- the city sewers 'and treated at three or more plants in the city. Keep Trade Wastes Out of Sewer, “T consider that it would be highly cesirable to keep the trade wastes out of the sewage just as far as practic- able. How to proceed to do this is a question that I have not investigated sufficiently. to ‘warrant a final conclu- sion. But it is perfectly feasible to keep these trade wastes out of the sewers and I shall proceed with the balance of this report on the basis that the disposal works are to treat séwage of substantially domestic origin, with trade wastes constituting & phase of the problem that will have to be handled separately either at the manufacturing establishments in the city or in connectfon with an enlarge- ment of the disposal works beyond that required in the absence of these iron wastes. “As the sewage reaches the treat: ment works, it is allowed to flow dur- ing the warmer season of the year di- rectly on to the thirty-two different sewage beds in turn. During the winter the sewage is allowed to first, pass through the settling reservoirs above. mentioned. At the time of my visit the filter beds were seriously overloaded and some of them had not the deposit of sludge at the surface removed since last autumn. “When these beds were uncovered they showed marked influence of salts on, iron within the porés of the fil- | tering material, particularly at, and | near the underdrains of the bot- tcm of the filters. ol “It is during the spring and early | summer that odors have been most marked at and near these beds, due to the accumulation of sludge during the winter months. This siudge un- dergoes foul putrefaction long before it can be completely removed from the tanks and filter beds, “The effluent or filtered sewage was fairly cleear as it flowed through the ditches to the Mattabessett river at the time of my visit. It was plain, however, from the amount of iron rust on the bottoms and sides of the ditches that the sewage was being merely strained and not subjected to any oxidation worthy of mention. Obviously the sewage beds were grossly overtaxed. “Sand beds of the type here in- | stalled for New Britain are ordinarily | capable of dealing with unsettled sewage ,at a rate corresponding to a 'sewage flow from 600 to 700 people rer acre of filtrating surfoce. When | the sewage iIs well settled, which is not the case ordinarily, if ever, at New Britain, and where the filtering ma- terial is relatively coarse, rates of filteration nearly double that above | mentioned are sometimes- feasible. | The local material consists of much | gravel and relatively coarse sand, but | urfortunately there is distributed | through it clay and disintegrated shale | that seriously restrict the efficiency and capacity of the local filter beds. “As above stated, iron wastets and ' rickling liquors from the manufac- turing plants in the city are a| serious handicap to the local inter- | mittent sand fllters, the rating of | which elsewhere at 600 to 700 persons | per acre is based upon unsettled | sewage that is substantially free of | trade wastes. In this connection I | will refer, however, for further (I(-»‘ tails to my book on ‘Sewage Disposal,’ | pages 720 and 666; and also page 76 | of the ‘Practical Methods of Sewage Disposal,’” by Messrs. Ogden and Cleveland. Conclusion as to Present Plant. “In my judgment, ‘the city of New | Eritain ought to have from 80 to 100 acres of filter beds in order to dispose satisfactorily of the unsettled sewage'’l of the city at the present time inde- pendently of the intluence of trade wastes, particularly the iron plck"ng’ liquors now entering the sewers and seriously clogging the present beds. “The present beds are clogged to a degree which makes them of very little use other,than as mere ‘strain- ers’ to take out suspended solid mat- ters. The cost of repairing them is So great that it will be cheaper to build new filter beds of a coarser ma- terial which will allow the air to reach the bottom of the beds thus cvercoming the clogging tendencies in the present beds due to their being &lmost constantly water clogged. “At Worcester, Mass.,, the sewage contains pickling liquors to an extenu more or less resembling the condi- tions at New Britain. In fact, the amount of iron in the Worcester sew- age was about one-third more than at New Britain on June 30 to July 2, 1914, At Worcester the sewage is applied to sand beds of porous material at a rate averaging from 50,000 to 55,000 'gallons per acre daily. “The sand filters at Worcester re- quired in 1913 an operating cqst of $13.82 per million gallons of sewage fiitered, of which about half was for relaying of underdrains, according to the last annual report of their sewer department. I understand that some $8,000 or more is spent each year In operating the New Britain sewage treatment works. This cost is low at first glance but is high in proportion to what is accomplished. Control of Trade. Wastes. “There are three general ‘ways ot proceeding with respect ta the con- trol of trade wastes which prejudi- cially affect the cost of efficiency, or i cals | than I gathered to be the case of " all stopped—it is served greater cost to them. FRESH, bears out the above. as there is a saving. 13 cents each. Ice Cream. Ice Cream. Hallinan’s Ice Cream. Ice Cream. lceCream HALLINAN'S IceCream ello Fellows We got them beat to a stand still. For this hot scason, what jis better than a plate HALLINAN'S ICE CREAM? Their new Cream called Druggist’s Special is a Hummer—It has them when they strive to give the public the bést at no The quality * of CREAM is above par, it is chuck full of PURE, RICH CREAM which is the tell tale. Our coupon campaign has proven our claim that the public wants the Best, as the increased demand The tango brick which is put up by HALLINAN is another leader—Be sure and get one of the coupons lceGream HALLINAN’S lce Gream New Blackberry Pies made from fresh Sale begins 9 A, M. HALLINAN BREAD AND ICE CREAM COMPANY at all refreshment booths this' ICE fruit— 1!!9913 32)[ °mea.13 03[ S ‘uem“e].] 'IIIEQJD 9] 'lllfla.l:) 9] both, of sewage treatment works, follows: “1. Require all trade wastes to be treated at their point of origin ana not to be admitted at all to the san- itary sewers of the city. “2, Allow all trade wastes to en- ter the sanitary sewers, but require the factories to discharge them au substantially uniform rate, so as to become well mixed with the house- hold wastes and thus prevent the large slugs of acids and other chemi- from reaching the disposal works. On this basis the city in some cases makes a special assessment against the factories to cover tne ad- ditional cost to which the city is put as a result of having to treat the factory wastes. “3. Adopt an intermediate policy whereby the more concentrated trade wastes are treated at their point of origin with an especial view to covering by-products, the sale of which will partly or completely pay for the cost of their recovery. This procedure is one of gradual devel opment and co-operative work be. tween the city and the factories, and it properly carried out is probably the best policy for a city like New Brit- ain “Mr. Davenport's analysis showea that the trade wastes on June 30 ana July 1 were much less of a factor from as my own inspection on the precedins ! Saturday afternoon when various pickling vats had probably just been emptied at the close of the week's work, and also to the records of analyses of earlier years. “While at the plant 1 gatherea from the 'information there available that the trade wastes of New Rritain perhaps doubled the amount of work to be done as compared with what would be the case if the sewage from the houses, stores, etc., alone were treated. In the light of the recent analyses and upon the assumption that the sewage can be kept moder- ately free from pickling wastes, 1 am convinced that a reasonable pro- gram would be to assume that at the treatment works these would be re- celved sewage having a composition which would not require more than one-third extra filtering area than sewage free of trade wastes. “On this basis the problem now is to find the cheapest way of treating the sewage flow of a separate system of sanitary sewers equal to the house- hold wastes that would be produced by a city of roughly 80,000 people. “I am aware that the evidence i meagre upon which to predicate a precise estimate of what future perience will be in eliminating trade wastes, but, in my opinion, the above assumption is a fair one for present purposes. “Here I may state that I'do not consider it desirable to turn the pickling liquors into the storm sewers unless they have been neutralized by a treatment which would prevent their being objectionable in the (Continued on Third Page.) ’ re- | ex- | ENJOYED THEIR VISIT, Crew of Battleship Connecticut Was ! Very Orderly at Havana, Havana, July 9.—A crew of tne| American battleship Connectiéut, which sailed today for Halti, have greatly enjoved their visit here after their long sojourn at Vera Cruz. Their conduct on the whole has been ex- emplary, minor misdemeanors having been reported. Last night two of the bluejackets who had not been | granted shore leave jumped overboard | and swam ashore, but were soon brought back by the picket. A dinner was given on board last night by Capt. John J. Knapp to Wil- llam E. Gonzales, the American min- | ister here; Arthur Bailly-Blanchard, the newly appointed minister to Haiti, and several other distinguished Amer- icans. only WRONG BREAKFAST Change Gave Rugged Health, | Many persons think that | strength, they must begin the day With a breakfast of meat and other heavy foods. This is a mistake as | |anyone can easily discover for him. self. A W. Va. carpenter’s experlence may benefit others. He writes: i “I used to he a very heavy break- | fast eater but finally indigestion | caused me such distress 1 became afraid to eat anything. | My wife suggested a trial Grape-Nuts and as 1 had to eat | something or starve, 1 concluded to for ot Final Clearance Prices in WOMEN'S WEAR Regular $1.25 White Sateen Petticoats 75¢ Regular $2.98 White and Corded Shirt Waists $2.00. Regular $6.95 Linen Dresses $5.00. Regular 50c Embroidered Organdie Col- lars 25c. Regular $35.$39 Sample Coats and Wraps reduced to $15.00. (Only one of a kind, in Novelty Cloths and Silks.) ¢ Dainty Blouses worth $2.50, sale price 1.95. New Voile Blouses with combination of fine Pique at $5.00, $6.95, $7.95, and em- broidered Voile Blouses with French Val Edging at $10.00. Regular $2.95 Pure Jap Silk Blouses, re- duced to $2.00. Horstulls “IT.PAYS TO RUY OUR KIND” HARTFORD. Oonnecting with 140 TRUMBULL HARTFORD 93.99 ASYLUM 8T LET THE KODAK go with you on your vacation and keep the story of your trip. We carry everything that's worth while in photography, and we will be glad to have you step into our store, without any obligation to buy, and let us show you how easy, and inexpensive too, amateur photography can be. Kodaks and Brownies to suit every requirement, THE DICKINSON DRUG CO. 169 and 171 MAIN STREET take her advice. She fixed me up a dish and 1 remarked at the time that the quality was all right, but | the quantity was too smali—I1 wanted | a saucerful. | “But she said a small amount Grape-Nuts went a long way and I must eat it according to di- | ns. So I started in with Grape- | Nuts and cream, 2 soft boiled eggs and gsome crisp toast for breakfast. “I cut out meats and a lot of oths er stuff I had been used to eating all | my life and was gratified to see that I was getting better right along. 1 con- | cluded 1 had struck the right thing and stuck to it. T had not only been eating improper ‘food, but too much. “I was working at the carpenter's trade at that time and thought that unless T had a hearty breakfast with plenty of meat, 1 would play out be- fore dinner. But after a few days of my “new breakfast” 1 found I could do more work, felt better in every way, and now 1 am not hotherea with indigestion.” Name given by Postum Co., Battle | Creek, Mich. Read “The Road to Wellville,” in pkgs. “There's a Rea- : ot Ever read the above letter? A new one appears from time to time, The) arc genuine, true, and full of human interest. give Royal Gold ‘Trading Stamps. Ask for them.| REDUCTIONS FOR WEEK JULY 6th TO 11th WHITE BEANS [b 4c PRICE FOR THIS WEEK ONLY <> Sticty FrashEggs 31¢w D i PEANUT ”c IONA BAKED BUTTER Ib. BEANS ca MASON JARS JAR RINGS pints 45¢ quarts 50c 3 doz. 25¢ SCOTCH PEAS 1b 4c | A&P JAMS 2jars 25¢ PRUNES, 40-50's Ib t4¢ | Brooms, 29¢ and 34c ICED TEA OR COFFEE Nothing is more cooling and The wnew summer drink. thirst quenching than lced Really n more delicious drink Tea and the brand to use Is than Iced Tew and the brana 256 30¢ INDIA-GEYLON SULTANA 1-2 pm“m b, Fi ng“flm with 1 b, Sultana 60 Stamps with 1 Family Tea, 50c. 25 Stamps with 1 1b, Coffee, 32c¢. 75 Stamps with 1 Tea, 60c. 30 Stamps with 1 1b, El Ryaa Coffee, 35c. Ambosa b, Fancy 100 Stamps with 1 Ib, Very Fancy Tea, 70c. Special Sale A&P Corn Starch With Extra Stamps, 20 STAMPS WITH 3 PACKAGES A&P CORN STARCH, EACH 7c 20 Stamps with 1 can A&P Oo. coa, 20¢. of the Following Groceries-10 1 jar De! Monte Honey . 15¢ 2 pkgs. Noodles, > . 3¢ cach or 1 pkg, 10¢ pkg. Maltold Dog or Puppy Biscuit pkg. Cream of Tartar cakes Grandma’s lIroning .each B¢ DEL MONTE HONEY, 85c —l:s Stamps wml_f can A&P To- I matoes, 15c. 10-Stamps Free With 1 bot. A&P Mustard ... 1 bot. A&P Ammonia .. 1 can Sultana Spice 0o .10¢ 1 can Underwood's Sardines .. 10¢ . 10c ‘Worcestershire 1 can Old Dutch Cleanser 1 bot. A&P 25 STAMPS WITH 1 LARGE JAR Free Delivery Free Delivery NTIC- PACIFIC Tel. 135 Tel. 135 184 Main Street