TREATMENT OF SEWAGE. BY Dr. C. MEYMOTT TIDY. [Abridged from the "Journal of the Society of Arts." D. VAN NOSTRAND, PUBLISHER, 1887. SXL •T43 THE TREATMENT OF SEWAGE. LIQUID EXCRETA. Every adult male person voids on an average 60 ozs. (= three pints) of urine daily. The 60 ozs. contains an average of 2.53 ozs. of dry solid matter, consisting of The urine, therefore, of a population of 10,000 adults may be taken as 600,000 fluid ozs., or 3,750 gallons per day. Urine rapidly decomposes, the urea becoming the volatile body carbonate of ammonia, and the urine thereby losing a valuable manurial constituent. After a 22506 time, but at a later stage, certain foul smelling gaseous products of decomposition are evolved. To collect and preserve urine, therefore, presents practical difficulties. The ammonia from stale urine was formerly distilled and converted into a sulphate, at Courbeville, near Paris. SOLID EXCRETA. Every adult inale person voids about 1,750 grains (or 4 ozs.) of fæces daily, of which 75 per cent. is moisture. The dry fæcal matter passed daily is therefore about 1 oz. per adult head of the population. Of this dry fæcal matter, about 88 per cent. is organic matter (of which 6 parts are nitrogen) and 12 per cent. inorganic, of which 4 parts are phosphoric acid. Of this dry fæcal matter 11 per cent. is soluble in water. Taking a population of 10,000 adults, it follows that the moist fæcal matter passed daily is equal to 2,500 lbs. (= 1 ton, 2 cwt., 8 lbs.) or 1.116 ton, whilst the dry fæcal matter is equal to 625 lbs. (5 cwt., 2 qrs., 9 lbs.). The facts, therefore, respecting the excreta of a population of 10,000 adults may be thus tabulated : TABLE I.-FECAL MATTER PASSED PER 10,000 OF ADULT POPULATION PER DIEM. TABLE II.-URINE AND FECES PASSED PER DAY BY 10,000 ADULTS. The following table has been adapted from Letheby. The quantities given are somewhat below the normal. The facts |