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Sewage and sewerage of farm homes [1922] cover

Sewage and sewerage of farm homes [1922]

Chapter 8: IMPORTANCE OF AIR IN TREATMENT OF SEWAGE.
By George M. Warren
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About This Book

A practical manual outlines principles and procedures for safe disposal of household sewage on farms, defining sewage and sewerage, estimating volumes and composition, and identifying health hazards from pathogens and parasites. It explains biological decomposition and the importance of aeration, then provides step‑by‑step guidance on kitchen drains, cesspools, septic tanks, grease traps, distribution fields, and related construction details. Emphasis is placed on basing designs on local field data, proper installation, and continuous operation and maintenance to avoid odors, nuisance, and contamination of water supplies; illustrative plans and adaptable recommendations help readers select suitable treatments for varied site conditions.

IMPORTANCE OF AIR IN TREATMENT OF SEWAGE.

Decomposition of organic matter by bacterial agency is not a complete method of treating sewage, as will be shown later under "Septic tanks." It is sufficient to observe here that in all practical methods of treatment aeration plays a vital part. The air or the sewage, or both, must be in a finely divided state, as when sewage percolates through the interstices of a porous, air-filled soil. The principle involved was clearly stated 30 years ago by Hiram F. Mills, a member of the Massachusetts State Board of Health. In discussing the intermittent filtration of sewage through gravel stones too coarse to arrest even the coarsest particles in the sewage Mr. Mills said: "The slow movement of the sewage in thin films over the surface of the stones, with air in contact, caused a removal for some months of 97 per cent of the organic nitrogenous matter, as well as 99 per cent of the bacteria."

BPR-RE 1387
Fig. 6.—A typical nuisance. (Board of Health, Milwaukee.) A yard like this is an eyesore, a fire menace, a breeding place for mosquitoes and vermin, a refuge for rats and mice, a source of noxious odors and foul drainage, and a violation of every sanitation code.