THEORY OF AKCIIITEGTURE.

Book
IT,
9 inches at the bottom, of the sides, which are formed bj^ curves of a large radius, and
6 leet hi^h in the clear.
Smaller sewers are 2 feet 9 inches and 2 feet 3
inches -n-ide, and
4 leet 6 inches clear
height; and 2 feet 6 inches wide, and 4 feet clear height. The
smaller end is placed doAvnwards. The dif-
ference of friction or impediment in favour of
a curved bottom is great, much power of the
flow of water being lost by the use of a flat or
flatly curved bottom. This part of th:; sewer
is called the invert, and is often formed of
stoneware, the core being filled in with coarse
cement ; thus the foul liquid does not perco-
late through them into tlie soil. The flgure
(61 oi.) shows Jentiings' compound invert
blocks, laid and jointed in Portland cement
;
the bricks at the angles set in blue lias lime.
Smaller sewers are now made of large cir-
cular glaze 1 stoneware pipes, and in a few
exceptional instances of iron
;
and even rock
concT'te ttthes, from 15 inches to 36 inches
diamiter, are made at Poole. Tlie joints of
^''"'^''
these pipes are made watertight. These
ordinary sewers pass into larger ones called "main sewers," all gradually inclined from
the hijtier to
ihe lower levels, joining one another either with curves or acute angles, sc
that the flow of one current shall not impede that of another; and they gradually become
larger an 1 1-irger, according to the requirements of the town, until they end in one oi'
more outfall sewers dischargiug into a river, or to reservoirs for a system of irrigation or
for other purpose.
lS87b- The accumulation of foul deposits in servers is paused by the want of sufficient
fall or sufficient flushing with water, and so occasions foul air, or gas as it is wronjjly
called. Hence it is essential tJiat the sewers should be well ventilated, in order that the
foul air shall not e.cape or pass up the drains of the houses. This ventilation in a line
of sewer is effected by a shaft carried up from the crown of the sewer to the surface of
the street, where it is finished by a grating. Wtiere there are plenty of these ventilating
shafts, it is considered that no nuisance is produced by the bad air as a general rule, because
the purer air is supposed to be continually passing into and out of the sewer through them,
thus diluting the foul air. If a nuisance from foul air is complained of, it would show
that something was wrong with tliat pirt of the sewer, or tiiat another ventilator was
wanted in the distance between the two already in position. Instead of these, it has a'so
l.ieen prop(.sed lo ventilate sewers by means of pipes carried up houses and ending ab >ve
the roufs, but this system is considered to be inefficient unless llie pipes are of large size.
The head of a system of sewers, or the end or head of a sewer, as to a court of houses,
jequires both a flushing aj)paratus to oce^isinnally cleanse the sewer, and a pipe ventilator
or ventilating shaft carried up to carry off the fuul air which there collects. Other
s* stems have been suguested. Various attempts have been made to create strong upcast
draughts by furnace chimneys, cowls, or other artificial means, but these attempts have
never been more than locallyand then only partiallj succcssail.
1887c. AVhilst on the subject of sewerage, it may be well to refer to the new system of
raising the sewage from a low to a higher level hy means of Shone's hydro-pneunialic
sewage ejector. This (u.'cessfid system, as carried oat at the Houses of Parliament, is
described in the Traii&acti"iis of tlie Royal Jiistitu'e of British Architects, 1887, iii-, new
series, and in Bi'liinh Architect for January 28, 1887.
P-
09. The work was performed
thus: in the bottom of the old main brick sewer, about 1000 feer long, passing from
north to south under the Houses, a 12-iuch cast-iron drain was enibedced in concrete,
with a fall of about 1 in 212. This received all the sewage of, and rain falling on, the
Houses and grounds, and was discharged into a receiver at the bottom of a sewage nian-
liole. From the side of the receiver a 12-iiich cast-iron inlet pipe is carried horizontally
into the adjoinintr ejector chamber, in which are three cast iron ejectors, one being capable
of discharging 480 gallons, and the other two 335 gallons each, per minute. The sewage
is conveyed into theni by a 6-ineh cast-iron pipe. From the botiom of each ejector a
6-inch cast-iron pipe passes vertically upwaids into a 12-inch cast-iron horizontal outlet
pipe, which is carried through a dam built in the old main sewer, and discharges beyond
it int) the old outlet communicating with the Low Level Sewer, and above the normal
flow'of sewage therein.
1887c?- Compressed air is used for ejecting the sewage, &c., from the ejectors by
Atkinson's difterential gas enginesfour of them, each of 4 horse-poiver. Usually one
only is emplo\ed. There is an automatic airangement for conducting the air, and ball
valve.s for admitting and expelling the sewage. Ttie compressed air in the ejector is dis-
charged by a pipe leading into the veutiLtiing shaft passing up the clock tower. The