50 REPORT 1870. 



to the Council of the Association. The circular was then issued, at various 

 times, to upwards of 700 towns in the United Kingdom. The result of these 

 applications has been that the authorities of about 150 towns and districts, 

 in addition to other public bodies and some private individuals, have sub- 

 scribed the sum of ^1530. There was a general expression of satisfaction _ 

 from the towns at the appointment of the Committee, who received nu- ' 

 merous offers of assistance in the prosecution of its inquiries. 



The various applications to the towns occupied some time, during which 

 the Committee was unable to take active steps in the prosecution of the in- 

 quiry, the scope and character of which would necessarily be governed by 

 the amount of support rendered by the towns ; and it was not until the end 

 of February that the Committee found itself in a position to proceed with 

 the full inquiry proposed by its circular. The Committee then considered 

 that the funds received justified the commencement of systematic work, 

 and a circular was at once addressed to the authorities of all the towns re- 

 questing them to state the nature of their difficulties with respect to the 

 sewage question, and the points upon which they would specially desire in- 

 formation. In reply to this many communications were received detailing 

 the particular circumstances of the various towns, and the difficulties com- 

 plained of. The information required may be briefly summarized as follows : — 



The towns complaining of difficulties may be classed under two heads — 

 those having efficient arrangements for the removal of their sewage, and 

 those where, for want of systematic sewerage, the refuse is a source of 

 nuisance and injury to health. The latter class of towns seems to require 

 information upon all points, and some of the municipal authorities, against 

 whom injunctions had been obtained or threatened, even wished for advice 

 in their particular cases. "Where irrigation was considered from local cir- 

 cumstances impracticable, inquiry was particularly made as to whether the 

 Committee could safely recommend any simple and efficient method of deo- 

 dorization. Several towns which had adopted methods of filtration com- 

 plained of their failure. Some towns had no present trouble to complain of, 

 but wished to know how far the systems adopted by them would meet the 

 requirements of a more stringent legislation on the question. Only one town 

 (Carlisle) where irrigation is being practised had no difficulty, present or 

 prospective, and required no information. 



The Committee being desirous of restricting its labours to the proper sub- 

 ject of the inquiry entrusted to it, viz. the " treatment and utilization of 

 sewage," and assuming as proved the deleterious effects upon the health of 

 towns of substances which escape from stagnant sewage into the surround- 

 ing soil, water, and atmosphere, resolved " that it was unnecessary to enter 

 upon any special medical or other hygienic investigation for the purpose of 

 establishing that general conclusion, but that it would direct its special at- 

 tention to the extent to which the soil, water, and atmosphere are polluted by 

 the several systems adopted for removing sewage from towns." It decided 

 also to take into consideration the probable sanitary advantages or disadvan- 

 tages of different methods of treating sewage after removal, and the effects 

 upon the public health of the various methods proposed for its utilization. 



The Committee considered it desirable that all persons having processes for 

 the purification or utilization of sewage should be applied to, to submit them 

 for examination, and to furnish details of the principle and working of their] 

 respective plans ; advertisements were accordingly issued. Descriptions of 1 

 several methods and some suggestions have been received ; these, howeverj 

 have not yet been examined. 



