ALDERSHOT CAMP. 



HISTORY. 



The extreme natural poverty of the soil (sand — 

 consisting of almost pure silica) does not seem to 

 have been a hindrance to the efficiency of the pro- 

 cess of cleansing by irrigation. 



The population is about 7,000, and some 700 

 tons per day of sewage are treated. The area of 

 the farm is 80 acres in all. A previous attempt 

 to deal with the sewage by subsidence and filtra- 

 tion tanks had been a complete failure. — Rivers 

 Pollution Commission, First Report, vol. i., pages 

 77 and 78 (1870). 



The following notes and extract are taken from 

 the book " Natural and Artificial Sewage Treat- 

 ment," by Lieut. - Col. Alfred S. Jones, v.c, 

 ASSOC. M.INST. C.E., &c., and Mr. H. Alfred Roech- 

 ling, M.iNST.c.E., &c., published in 1902. Col. Jones, 

 who, by the way, is now a member of the institu- 

 tion, is the author of that part of the work apper- 

 taining to Aldershot Camp. 



Col. Ewart devised the separate system as used, 

 and Mr. James Blackburn was employed by the 

 War Office to deal with the camp sewage on about 

 100 acres of rough heather-covered land. In 1879 

 the farm was, after fourteen years' work, in very 

 good order, and a wooden shed had been built and 

 sub-let to a man who bought the ryegrass for some 

 fifty cows. Mr. Blackburn was in treaty with the 

 War Office for new terms, but the sub-tenant made 

 a tempting offer and secured a fourteen years' lease. 

 In May, 1895, Col. Jones was called in to inspect 

 and report. " I found the whole farm in a deplor- 

 able condition of neglected nuisance, stagnant lakes 

 of sewage retained here and there by banks of 

 earth, buildings and fences in decay, and the greater 

 part of the camp sewage passing, by pipes laid 

 by its tenant, under a road which forms the lower 

 boundary of War Department land, to some rough 

 meadows held by their tenant from civilian owners 

 for the purpose of saving him the trouble of spread- 

 ing the sewage over the sloping surface of the War 



Department Farm — work which required the use 

 of a land surveyor's level and staff. In the ditches 

 of these flat meadows the sewage could go through 

 the septic process to its fullest extent, as the 

 level of the river Blackwater kept them nearly 

 full at all times, and the supernatant liquid could 

 spread over the coarse herbage of these meadows 

 only in winter floods, with the result of heavy 

 crops of hay, and sewage disposal conveniently out 

 of sight and outside War Office jurisdiction, when 

 a Royal Engineer officer might come to inspect the 

 Camp Farm from time to time " (pages 10 and 11). 

 Since then the farm has been managed by Col. 

 Jones, and the result has been most satisfactory. 



REPORTS TO THE ROYAL COMMISSION. 



Separate. — The sewerage of 

 The Sewage. Aldershot Camp is so arranged 

 as to give, practically speaking, 

 completely separate systems for sewage and for 

 rain water. This is an important point to note 

 because as a rule the so-called separate system in- 

 cludes a considerable proportion of the rainfall in 

 the foul - water sewers. The sewage is entirely 

 Domestic, and is unusually strong. But little Sub- 

 soil Water finds its way into the sewers, and when 

 on one occasion -75 in. of rain fell in four hours 

 the flow per twenty-four hours was only increased 

 to the extent of about 50 per cent. The Dry- 

 weather Flow is 1,000,000 gallons per diem, and 

 the extreme Storm Flow may be taken as 1,500,000 

 gallons. Water Supply. — The water consumption 

 per head is large, and probably averages in the 

 neighbourhood of 43 gallons. The Rainfall is 

 about 22 in. per annum. The Stay in Sewers is 

 under one hour each for the Marlborough and 

 Stanhope Lines and about two and a half hours 

 for the Wellington Lines, the Distances being re- 

 spectively I mile in the first two cases and li^ miles 

 in the last case. Sewer Capacity. — The Stanhope 

 Lines sewer is a 15-in. pipe, with a gradient of 



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