622 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OP FISH AND FISHERIES. 



from the condensed water which is to be used again. These " polluted 

 waters " may be classified as follows : 



1. The water used in washing the beets, containing small particles of 

 soil, leaves, and pieces of beet. 



2. The water flowing off from the beets after they are cut, containing 

 many slimy particles. 



3. The water coming from the purifying process through carbonized 

 bones, containing salts of every imaginable kind, lime containing phos- 

 phoric acid, combinations of ammonia, &c. 



4. The condensed water from the first boiler, containing a good deal 

 of ammonia. This water may, of course, be used for washing beets, 

 only it must not pass through the purifying apparatus. 



5. The so-called "purifying water," which is thoroughly saturated 

 with lime, sugar, dirt, &c. 



These polluted waters must be led into large basins, large enough to 

 give the water time to become clear and pass through a process of fer- 

 mentation, by which the insoluble organic particles sink to the bottom. 



If the water-saving system has been introduced, a factory working 

 400,000 pounds of beets per day needs only six connected basins about 

 10 meters long, 2 meters broad, and 1| meters deep. These basins may 

 be simple earth-pits without any plastering. 



All sugar factories already possess similar basins, but they are all 

 too small and arranged in an impracticable manner, so as not to allow the 

 water sufficient time for becoming clear and for fermenting. The first 

 expense is considerable, but the interest and amortization is fully cov- 

 ered by the amount of manure thus gained. The water flowing out of 

 these basins is somewhat turbid, and must not be allowed to enter the 

 brooks and rivers, as is mostly done now, but should be led over fields 

 and meadows, and, after having thus been filtered, flow into the public 

 waters. 



The sugar manufacturers fear that similar legal restrictions will prove 

 detrimental to their industry, and that the burdens which they would 

 have to bear in the interest of the general public would prove too heavy. 

 But this idea is erroneous, for the irrigation with refuse water would 

 prove a great advantage to the factories. 



A factory using 400,000 pounds of beets per day has enough refuse 

 water to irrigate an area of 20 hectares. Such an area would produce 

 20,000 to 30,000 pounds of the best hay, and would therefore represent 

 a value of 750 mark =$178.50. The irrigation is by no means confined 

 to the immediate neighborhood of the factory, for by means of a steam- 

 pump and pipes the refuse water can easily be led to the most suitable 

 place. Such an apparatus would not be as expensive as might appear 

 at first sight, as the necessary steam-power would already be found in 

 the factory itself. The cost of an irrigated area at a distance of 2 kilo- 

 meters from the factory would, according to a very careful estimate, only 



