ON THE TREATMENT AND UTILIZATION OF SEWAGE. 317 



is to be done with the sewage of towns. The importance of this question 

 is shown by the fact that, besides engaging the attention of the late General 

 Board of Health, besides being frequentlj' discussed in Parliament and by 

 the various local authorities throughout the kingdom, it has within the last 

 thirteen years given rise to the appointment of three Eoyal Commissions 

 charged with the duties of investigating the subject and of suggesting 

 remedial measures, viz. : — 



I. The Sewage Commission, dated 5th January 1857, " to inquire into the 

 best mode of distributing the sewage of towns and applying it to beneficial 

 and profitable uses," from which three reports have issued, bearing date 

 March 1858, August 1861, and March 1865. The conclusions the Com- 

 missioners arrived at were to the eflfect that the direct application of sewage 

 to land favourably situated, if judiciously carried out and confined to a 

 suitable area exclusively grass, is profitable to persons so employing it ; that 

 where the conditions are unfavourable, a small payment on the part of the 

 local authorities will restore the balance ; that this method of sewage appli- 

 cation, conducted with moderate care, is not productive of nuisance or injury 

 to health. 



That methods of precipitation are satisfactory merely as a means of 

 mitigating a nuisance. 



That the only radical way of restoring the rivers to their original purity is 

 to prevent the discharge of foul matters into them, and especially the dis- 

 charge of sewage and other refuse of large towns. 



That the right way to dispose of town sewage is to apply it continuously 

 to land, and that it is only by such application that the pollution of rivers 

 can be avoided. 



That the magnitude of a town presents no real difficulty to the effectual 

 treatment of its sewage, provided it be considered as a collection of smaller 

 towns. 



II. The Elvers' Commission, dated 18th May 1865, "to inquire how far 

 the present use of rivers for carrying off the sewage of towns, populous 

 places, &c. can be prevented without risk to the public health, and how far 

 such sewage &c. can be utilized," from which three reports have already 

 issued, bearing date March 1866, May 1867, and August 1867, and further 

 reports are expected. 



And III. The Eoyal Sanitary Commission, dated November 1868, "to in- 

 quire into and report on the operations of the sanitary laws for towns, villages, 

 and rural districts in Great Britain and Ireland, so far as these laws apply 

 to sewerage, drainage, water-supply, removal of refuse, prevention of over- 

 crowding, and other conditions conducive to the public health." This latter 

 Commission is now engaged in its first proceedings, which are limited to the 

 consolidation and improvement of existing laws, and the establishment of a 

 better recognized central control. It is expected that a preliminary report 

 from this Commission will shortly appear. 



The object of your Committee has been understood by its Members as that 

 of supplementing the above-mentioned public inquiries, with special informa- 

 tion, as to the local circumstances and practical experience of various towns 

 throughout the kingdom, and with other positive data relating to the subject, 

 such as the Eoyal Sewage Commission have pointed out as requisite to be 

 ascertained. 



Tour Committee, in entering on its duties, came to the conclusion that 

 since town sewage, as it is now most commonly known in this countr)^ is a 

 source of nuisance, inconvenience, and injury to health, chiefly by reason of 



