Report  on  Implements  at  York. 
625 
It  will  be  seen  from  the  above  valuable  records  that  the 
quantity  of  waste  water  over  the  whole  period  amounted  to 
about  20  per  cent.,  or  one-fifth  of  the  rainfall.  But  if  we 
eliminate  the  heavy  rainfalls  of  June  26th  and  30th,  then  the 
waste  was  nearly  30  per  cent.,  viz.,  2859  gallons  of  stored  water, 
and  1165  gallons  of  waste  water;  and  by  reference  to  the 
table  it  will  be  seen  that  the  lighter  the  rain  the  greater  the 
waste.  Take  as  an  example  the  14th  and  15th  of  June.  On 
the  first  day  '08  fell  after  14  days  of  dry  weather.  Of  a total  of 
113  gallons,  only  45  gallons  of  clear  water  was  secured,  and 
68  gallons  went  down  the  waste.  The  roof  would  then  be 
washed ; but  on  the  following  day,  when  the  rain  was  more 
considerable,  viz.  T7,  of  the  257  gallons  which  passed  through 
the  machine,  102  were  dirty  and  155  clean,  so  that  in  these 
two  days  out  of  a total  of  370  gallons,  170  gallons  would  be 
lost,  except  we  have  a tank  for  dirty  water,  which,  of  course, 
would  require  frequent  cleaning  out.  The  reason  why  the 
proportion  of  waste  is  so  much  greater  when  the  rainfall  is 
light  in  character  and  small  in  volume  is,  that  a great  deal  of 
water  trickles  through  the  machine  before  the  requisite  quantity 
reaches  the  counterbalancing-chamber  ; and  on  the  cessation  of 
the  rain,  if  only  for  an  hour,  the  machine  returns  to  its  original 
position,  because  the  water  in  the  counterbalancing-chamber 
passes  slowly  away  through  the  holes  and  is  discharged. 
Hence,  with  occasional  showers,  a large  portion  of  the  water, 
which  may  be  very  precious,  is  wasted,  although  perfectly 
clean,  inasmuch  as  the  roof  has  been  washed  by  previous 
rain.  In  the  case  of  a real  soaking  rain,  the  Separator  answers 
admirably,  but  unfortunately  this  is  just  the  time  when  a little 
waste  would  not  be  material.  If  this  tendency  to  too  great 
waste  could  be  obviated,  as  we  think  possible,  then  the 
Separator  would  acquire  great  additional  value,  and  for  use  in 
smoky  towns  could  be  highly  recommended.  I much  question 
if  it  is  adapted  for  the  roofs  of  agricultural  buildings.  It  must 
also  be  borne  in  mind  that,  in  order  to  use  this  machine,  all 
the  spouting  must  be  so  arranged  as  to  bring  the  whole  roof- 
discharge  to  one  point,  and  the  tank  must  be  so  far  below  the 
spouting  as  to  allow  of  the  fixing  of  the  apparatus.  Then, 
lastly,  cannot  the  object  be  sufficiently  obtained  for  ordinary 
agricultural  purposes  by  passing  the  water  from  the  tank 
through  a filter-bed  of  gravel  without  any  waste  at  all.  It 
should  be  explained  that  during  the  heavy  rains  of  26th  and 
30th  Jan.  the  clear- water  tank  overflowed  from  incapacity  to 
hold  the  quantity  of  rain.  Therefore  the  amounts  were  calcu- 
lated from  the  rainfall,  and  are  a close  approximation  of  the 
reality.  At  Escrick  Park  the  water  was  discharged  into  small 
tubs  and  overflowed  into  drains.  Samples  of  the  clean  and 
