Title: The American Museum journal
Identifier: americanmuseumjo11amer (find matches)
Year: c1900-(1918) (c190s)
Authors: American Museum of Natural History
Subjects: Natural history
Publisher: New York : American Museum of Natural History
Contributing Library: American Museum of Natural History Library
Digitizing Sponsor: Biodiversity Heritage Library

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PANORAMIC VIEW OF TRICKLING FILTERS, COLUMBUS, OHIO The most oflicioiU dcvict' yet discoverecl for the purification of a city's sewage — stones on which bacterial ^rrowih ina>-t;al licr and a rcfinlateil su;);)ly of sewage in fine spray and of air witli rciianl to lini'hor waters and on the other liand the \ai-ioiis (le\ices w hieh may he used for the (Hsposal of city sewafi'e hy sanitary methods. When sewafi'e is (Hseharf>-ed in small \T)Iiime into a relati\-ely lar<ie body of water the aim of all sewa.uc ))iirifieation is attained. The bacteria nor- mally present in the water attack the organic matter and oxidize it, and at the same time the typical sewaf^e bacteria, findinj;' themselves in an nn- favorable environment, gfadnally die and disappear. In New ^'ork, however, the pi-esent method of disposal by the haphazard discharge of sewers into the waters of the rivers and harbor at the j)iers or bulkhead lines, is manifestly unsatisfactory. The sewage oscillates back and forth instead of passing j)romptly out to sea, and the local nuisances at certain points are extreme. iiesides the fact that this brings about conditions oil'ensixc to the senses, real danger to health is inx'oK'cd. The germs of typhoid and other infec- tious disea.ses are always present in a city's waste, menacing the lives of those to whom their contact is inevitable. For instanc all along the waterfront, driftwood and other floating objects are picked out by the ))oor and carried to their homes. In Jamaica Bay and neighboring waters shell- fish are grown in close j)roximity to both jjublic and private sewers and while some processes of cookery destroy the typhoid germs, others do not. The greatest risk is run by bathing in the ;)ollutc(l waters and in New ^ oi-k several of the free floating baths maintained by the city are placed sulliciently 143

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