70 Sewage Disposal and River Pollution. 



sewer construction. What is the present aspect of this 

 question ? In the last half century there has been literature 

 on it wholesale, parliamentary commissions, blue books, reports 

 without end, yet the upshot of all is found in Dr. Tidy's 

 recent statement that the subject is in " a frightful mess." 



The chief end of the Legislature has been to prevent 

 river pollution, in order that rivers and streams may be 

 restored to the public as sources of pure air, clean water, 

 fish life, &c. But the opponents of legislation ask, " What 

 is the use of further legislation, when the present is almost 

 a dead letter from the difficulty and increasing expense of 

 putting it into practice ? " Let us examine the procedure 

 that has led to this result. The first point to be noticed is 

 engineering. There was generally some great scheme for 

 the purpose of gathering up and concentrating in one stream 

 the whole nuisance of a locality, and then passing it on to a 

 neighbour. If anything illustrates the adage, " The farther 

 you go the deeper the mire," it is sewage disposal on these 

 terms. The next method of procedure was sewage farming. 

 This was at one time looked upon as the grand solution of the 

 problem. Although large sums of money have been expended 

 in this way it is gradually being abandoned. Next, there is 

 settlement and after filtration. Grave sanitary reasons soon 

 showed the fallacy of filtering raw sewage, and the settling tank 

 was brought into play. But the after filtration over areas of 

 land involves numerous difficulties — a great deal of land is 

 required, it soon gets " sick," and has to rest ; yet if the land 

 be of a suitable quality a step is made towards the economic 

 use of sewage by the affinity of the filtering medium for the 

 more volatile and valuable elements in the sewage, and the 

 land has become manured ; but the season for manure is 

 limited, whilst that for sewage is constant, and we are com- 

 pelled to go on " in season and out of season." The " pail 

 system," with its handful of charcoal to arrest and to deodorise 

 the volatile elements has a certain economic value, but is 

 repulsive and can never be popular, and besides it leaves half 

 the drainage of the towns ? and that in point of fact the most 



