R E P O R T ( ON THE DISPOSITION OF NIGHT-SOIL, BY WM. LEE, M. E., CHAIRMAN OF THE POUDRETTE COMMITTEE OF THE BOARD OF HEALTH. WM. LEE, M. D., W. F. WALLACE, M. D., F. M. STRINGFIELD, M. D. WASHINGTON CITY: M'GIDL & WITHEROW, PRINTERS AND STEREOTYPERS. 1870. Secretarg ^oard off foalth, Washington, D. C., Nov. 10, 1870. The following Report of the Committee on Poudrette was submitted by its chairman, Dr. Wm. Lee, adopted by the Board of Health, and ordered to be printed. F. M. STRINGFIELD, M. D., Secretary Board of Health. REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON POUDRETTE. Complaint having been made to the Board of Health that a poudrette factory in the First Ward constituted a nuisance, by noxious emanations; its vicinity to dwelling- houses, and the exudation of offensive material from its premises; and complaint having been also made of the ex- istence of another poudrette factory in the Sixth Ward, in the state of a nuisance, the subject was referred to this committee as a Poudrette Committee. It therefore becomes the duty of this committee to con- sider, first, whether the premises complained of are amen- able to the present general law regulating nuisances; if so, whether that law shall be modified so as to exempt them from its action; and, if not, whether a new ordinance shall be enacted bringing them within its scope. The general law governing nuisances (Webb's Digest, 1868) is to the effect, that "no establishment whereby offensive odors are generated to the detriment or injury of the neighborhood shall be established, laid off, or con- ducted upon any rear site or upon any site not used as aforesaid, within the period of twelve months, within one hundred and fifty yards of any dwelling-house occupied or used within the limits of this Corporation, unless the per- son or persons desiring to establish, lay off, or conduct any such establishment, whereby such offensive odors may be generated, shall first file with the Register the written consent of two-thirds of the owners and occupants of houses within said one hundred and fifty yards, and also the per- mission of the Mayor. " 4 This law has no force when applied to the poudrette fac- tory situated in the Sixth Ward; the nearest building occu- pied as a dwelling being the Alms-House, some three hun- dred and fifty yards distant, if we except the Small-Pox Hospital, which is quite near it, and only occupied at intervals. The poudrette factory in the First Ward is located on C street, between Twenty-First and Twenty-Second streets, (square No. 88,) its building being within thirty yards of dwelling-houses, and occupying for its purposes about half of the square; within its immediate vicinity is the Skating Park, and the streets in its neighborhood are being laid out, graded, and paved by the Corporation. The law, requiring "the written consent of two-thirds of the owners and occu- pants of houses within one hundred and fifty yards," has, in this case, not been complied with. The complaint is to the effect, that the emanations which from time to time occur in the process ot manufacturing this material are so disagreeable to the neighborhood, as to deteriorate the value of property and render a residence in that locality uncomfortable and disagreeable. In reply, the proprietors claim that they can, with proper care, con- duct their establishment in such a manner as to cause no offense by any disagreeable odors, but at the same time admit that occasions may arise, and have arisen, in which, through carelessness of the workmen, by want of a proper application of deodorizers or other causes, offensive odors may be given off. On this point the experience of others than those directly interested must be taken into consid- eration, and it would be well, perhaps, here to describe, from personal observation, the present condition of the two factories. First, as to their location. The meteorological observa- tions, conducted at the United States Naval Observatory, show that the prevailing winds in the summer are mainly south and southwesterly; in the winter, north and north- westerly; rarely from the northeast or east, except in the case of impending storms and wet weather. The First 5 Ward factory, then, is directly in the range of the winds which sweep Washington foragreater portion of the year; while that of the Sixth Ward is more favored. The First Ward poudrette factory was visited by the committee on several occasions. At no time was any odor perceptible without the grounds, and within but a slight ammoniacal odor was perceived- The buildings consist of an old brick building formerly used as a lamp-black fac- tory, the walls of which are one and a half bricks thick, with a foundation of masonry of some five feet depth, (so stated;) there are openings in different places near the roof for ventilation. Within this building are vats of about five feet in depth, the capacity of which could not be ascer- tained, lined with pine boards, wedged together, and paved with brick upon clay. The other buildings consist of open sheds, where the fertilizer is placed in wet weather. The establishment is so situated that there is a drainage towards the canal and skating pond. The night soil is received, during two months of winter, at night, and passes directly from the scavenger's cart into the vats within the brick building. While this process is taking place, a disinfecting and deodorizing substance (com- position not given) is applied to the mass, and afterwards peat or marl or both are applied to the material, until it reaches a certain degree of consistency and dryness, when it is spread out on the grounds of the establishment and raked over and rolled, until the process of its transforma- tion into poudrette is completed, when it is placed in bar- rels, which are headed up and stored there, ready for trans- portation. At a recent visit the workman in charge stated that what night soil they had on hand could be worked into poudrette and made ready for removal in twenty days. Since the opening of the vats mentioned, above a year, the sides thereof have not been examined. On October 16th, the poudrette factory of the Sixth Ward was visited, which is situated on square 1140, be- tween Twenty-Second and Twenty-Third, A and B streets, at the northeast corner of the reservation occupied by the 6 Alms-House; its immediate neighborhood is very sparsely settled; the streets not laid out. It is on the low marshy bank of the Eastern Branch; in front is a brick-kiln, on one side the Alms-House grounds, with the Small-Pox Hos- pital, and on the other an extensive common. The grounds used for the manufacturing purposes are much more extensive than those of the First Ward. The night soil is conveyed there without regard to the season of the year, the last being deposited on October 14. The night soil is deposited directly from the scavenger's cart into two large pits, and with each load a bucket of copperas (so stated) is mixed. These pits are covered over with board- ing which has been tarred. The committee could not learn that there was any mason-work about them. The mate- rial is conveyed from the bottom of the pits by means of troughs, to where it is mixed with burnt peat; the peat is burnt in ovens, and the mixture ground by machinery, and dried on boards and the ground. The quantity of material seemed to be greater here than in the other factory. There was no odor from the pits; but from the material where freshly spread upon the ground the odor was markedly disagreeable at the place of deposit, not only giving the ammoniacal odor, but also the more natural odor of the soil itself. These odors were not no- ticeable outside of the grounds; the day was clear and cool, with a southwest wind. This description of the mode of manufacture was obtained only from workmen about the place, and, of course, is liable to error. The method of disposing of night soil through the pou- drette factories is used to a certain extent in some of our cities and in Europe. All of them, so far as the commit- tee have been able to ascertain, locate their factories beyond the city limits; and the committee has been able to obtain but few details in regard to the management of these es- tablishments, except from the French authorities. Paris has spent large sums of money in perfecting her present system, and we have thought it worth while to lay before the Board of Health some of the particulars of that system. 7 It had been the custom in Paris for many years to de- posit night soil and manufacture poudrette at a place north- east of the city and just beyond the barriers, a point used as a sort of depot for all (so-called) insalubrious establish- ments, as knackeries, &c. But Tardieu, in his Dictionary of Public Health, 1854, says: " The night soil, necessarily exposed to the air during its transformation into poudrette, fills the air constantly with infectious exhalations, envelop- ing almost constantly a quarter of the capital of Paris. Whilst we are not ignorant of the fact that praiseworthy men, among whom is Parent Duchatelet, have pretended that these exhalations do not exercise any mischievous in- fluence on the health, we are obliged to believe that they would become in time, to a population constantly submit- ted to their influence, a serious cause of insalubrity." It having been found, therefore, that the poudrette factory was too near the walls of-Paris, and in the range of cer- tain winds, a public order was issued, to the effect that the depots for the manufacture of manure and poudrette should be placed at least two kilometers (more than a mile) from the barriers. Another serious objection was found to exist: the liquid of the night soil infiltrated through the soil, and infected all the wells of a certain portion of Paris in its neighbor- hood, although protected by masonry. Parent Duchatelet, whose opinion commands respect, strongly insists that the emanations from night soil and poudrette factories, although often incommodious, are not injurious to the workmen or the neighborhood, though at the same time he records two instances where fatal fever broke out on board ships loaded with poudrette, due to a fermentation caused by the combined effects of humidity and an elevated temperature, with improper preparation of the material when first shipped. Instances are given where health was benefited from working in these manufactories. The present place of deposit for night soil and manufac- ture of poudrette is in the forest of Bondy, selected for its distance from Paris, nine kilometres, (about five and a half 8 miles,) its elevation, its being in a wooded district, and its proximity to a canal. The Parisians endeavor to separate, as far as possible, the fluid contents from the solids, and accordingly have various methods for so doing. The solids and fluids, thus placed in different vessels, are carried beyond the walls of the city to a depot, where the solids are conveyed by means of boats to Bondy, the fluids, by the aid of steam power, reach the same place through conduits from the depot (Labillette); and at Bondy they together undergo the process of conversion into poudrette. The French police law governing insalubrious establish- ments divides them into three classes: First, those which should be removed from the immediate neighborhood of dwelling-houses, while it is not necessary that they should be removed from the immediate vicinity of cities on ac- count of the very bad odor they cause. The second class consists of those establishments the re- moval of which are not absolutely necessary; but in the carrying on of which a certain amount of skill must first be acquired to prevent annoyance. The third class are establishments which are to remain under the inspection of the police. Poudrette factories are placed by law among the insal- ubrious establishments of the first class, and have the fol- lowing regulations to govern them : 1st. Disinfect the fecal matters in the privies, and trans- port them by means of hermetically sealed vessels. 2d. Deposit the material in ditches covered by sheds, and cover them with charcoal to prevent all disagreeable ema- nations. 3d. Construct the ditches destined to receive fecal mat- ter of masonry and cement, so as to prevent the fluids from filtrating through into the earth. 4th. Deposit under sheds, and protected from moisture, the materials converted into manure. This completes all the information the committee have been able to obtain in regard to the management of pou- drette factories. If it is decided to make use of them as a 9 ce o deposit for the night soil of this city, it is their opinion that the selection of their location should be with- out the city limits, with a due regard to the prevailing winds, and in as elevated and wooded a district as they can obtain; and that their construction and management should always be under sanitary supervision of some sort. As to the factories at present in operation within the city limits, they should be discontinued at as early a date as it is possible for the crude material at present on hand to be converted into poudrette, and before the premises are va- cated it should be the duty of the sanitary police to see that the premises are properly disinfected and cleansed. Another question, which is all important, is involved in- directly in this subject, one the importance of which will become more and more apparent as the city increases in size and its system of sewerage becomes more thorough. What is the best disposition to make of our sewage ma- terial and night soil ? As a better class of buildings, pro- vided with water-closets emptying into sewers, gradually takes the place of houses with privy boxes and vaults, so will the necessity for the present system of scavengers be- come lessened, and the necessity, as has been the case in other cities, for the proper disposition of sewage material, present itself more strongly to us. With a river of so much breadth, three feet of tide, and with such a barrier as ob- structs the Potomac at present, we cannot expect to escape the unhealthy deposit of excrementitious substances on our flats. It is a subject which taxes the minds of men more fitted for the consideration of the subject than ourselves; and we do not feel that it is necessary here to more than glance at the different modes employed for the purpose. While Paris is content with having spent vast sums on its poudrette system, London, at a great expense, conveys all its sewage material some fourteen miles below the city, and there allows it to be emptied into the Thames to prevent its return by the tide to the metropolis. Other cities in Europe rent ground for the purpose and irrigate it with sewage liquid, either by surface sewage channels, under- 10 ground pipes, and distribution by hose and jet subsoil irri- gation, or total submersion. In Spain, northern Italy, and British India this mode of procedure has proved highly useful, which, by those who object to its use in other places, is ascribed to their torrid climates and light sandy soil. So that we have, to sum up, three systems: First, the manu- facture of a fertilizer out of the night soil itself; secondly, the emptying of it through sewers diluted with rain-fall and other water into rivers and harbors; and lastly, the irrigation of land by sewerage. (Excellent details of these different processes will be found in Krepp, on the Sewage Question,London, 1867, who advocates what he calls Liem- ur's Pneumatic Sewerage System, by which privies empty their contents through air-tight pipes into street reservoirs, from whence it is removed daily by means of a steam en- gine into air and water-tight barrels, to be disposed of to farmers for manure, requiring in default of a sufficient de- mand for the material land owned by the city or company capable of absorbing all the manure and involving storage of the material through the winter months. Combined with this is given a mode of applying the manure below the surface of the ground, thereby avoiding the pollution of the atmosphere, as when laid upon the surface. No disinfectant or deodorizer is used.) Without considering any of these plans more particu- larly,it will readily be seen that theyinvolve more expense than is at present warrantable to attain the required ends. The emptying of privy boxes and vaults by scavengers can, if properly conducted, be managed with but little dis- comfort and annoyance in a city like ours, with its wide and sparsely-populated streets; and in disposing of the night soil to poudrette manufactories we ought to be able to be free from any disagreeable consequences. On the other hand, we are giving away what might prove an important source of revenue to the city; but in order to be properly conducted a considerable outlay of money would be re- quired, and much time would elapse before an adequate return could be realized. 11 In this connection we beg leave to consider the present mode in which scavengers perform their duty, and the laws which govern them, and contrast with it the Paris system. In the first place, we find nothing in the laws which reg- ulate the character of privy boxes, except that a box, bucket, or vessel must be provided which shall be suffi- cient for the reception of filth; it is not required to be water-tight, or made so as to be easily removed; nor can we see that they are under inspection, except when com- plaint has been made in writing of ott'ensiveness to the commissioner it is his duty to see that a proper cleansing' is effected. It is not required of the scavenger to empty these privies oftener than once in two months from the first day of April to the first day of October, and once in three months from the first day of October to the first day of April in every year, unless they become offensive or re- quire cleaning, or within twenty-four hours after notifica- tion by the proprietor of the premises. So that a privy may within the specified time become foul and require cleaning, and, until it becomes so offensive to its neighbors as to have attention called to it, remain in that condition. We find no rules governing the construction of night- carts or the inspection of the same, where they are to be placed when not in use, not being required to deposit night soil immediately upon emptying privies; as a scaven- ger recently asserted that sometimes when he had only one box to empty he allowed its contents to remain in his cart until the next night, or perhaps longer, in order to obtain a larger load. When at work on dark nights, their lantern frequently being required within the privy, passers often have no intimation of the chances they run of a disagreeable encounter. They experience great inconvenience at times in obtain- ing a place of deposit; the farmers obtain the night soil from them as a fertilizer, but are liable to county laws for creating nuisances. We find no laws requiring or governing the mode of 12 disinfection of privies and their contents; the custom seems to be to use slaked lime freely. The Paris system, as given by Professor Tardieu in his Dictionary of Public Hygiene, is quite thorough, and we will quote, as follows, such extracts as seem fitting: "laws of the chief of police, NOVEMBER 8,1851. "Article 1. It is expressly prohibited to proceed to the extraction and transportation of matters contained in priv- ies before having completely disinfected them. This dis- infection should be done on the night preceding the re- moval of the material and at the same hours as those ordered for their removal. "Article 2. Every scavenger shall make known to us his process of disinfection, and not employ it until after it has been approved of by us, on the recommendation of the Board of Health. "Article 8. It is expressly prohibited to wait until the privy receptacle is full before emptying it. There must always be left at least space enough for the introduction and mixture of disinfecting material." Formalities to be observed in the construction, repair, or suppression of privies: "Article 31. No privy should be constructed, repaired, or reconstructed without a previous notice to the proper offi- cer. This notice to be made by the proprietor, contractor, or architect in charge of the work. In the case of con- struction or reconstruction, the notice shall be accompanied by a plan of the proposed work. "Article 33. It is prohibited to proprietors, contractors, or architects to extract or have extracted by their workmen or others the matters which they find in the privy recep- tacle. This extraction can only be done by regularly au- thorized scavengers. "Article 38. Privies which for any reason are no longer in use must be emptied. 13 "Article 40. The privies of houses which are to be demol- ished must be emptied before the work of demolition is undertaken. "Article 44. The new privies reconstructed or repaired cannot be used until permission is given to that efiect by the proper officer after examination, who must be notified of the completion of the work. OF THE EMPTYING OF PRIVIES. "Article 48. It is required of all proprietors of houses to proceed without delay to the emptying of privies as soon as they are full. Ko emptying can be done except by a scavenger duly authorized. "Article 49. Ko one can exercise the duties of scavenger without being provided with permission from the mayor. This permission will not be granted until the applicant has shown that he possesses- " 1st. The vehicles, horses, tubs, casks, buckets, and other utensils necessary for the service. "2d. That he is provided with disinfecting materials as required; and "3d. That he has a convenient and proper place to de- posit his vehicles and utensils when not in use. "Article 50. The vehicles employed in this service, with or without contents, shall not be used, except at stated hours. "Article 51. Every vehicle employed in the transporta- tion of fecal matters shall carry a lantern, which shall be lighted at night, and carry conspicuously on its glass the number of the vehicle. "Each vehicle shall carry on its side a placard, giving the name and residence of its proprietor. "Article 52. The scavenger shall make use of casks, the discharge sluices of which are closed by a transverse band of iron, fixed to the cask by one of its extremities and fast- ened at the other by a padlock. The discharge-pipe shall be closed in such a manner as to prevent all splashing. 14 "Article 53. A lantern, so placed at the residence where the privy is to be emptied as to illuminate the public way, shall be lighted before any work or deposit of utensils for that work takes place. "Article 62. The materials resulting from the emptying of privies shall be immediately deposited in the receptacles which serve for transportation to the vehicle. These ves- sels, filled near the opening of the privy, shall be closed, luted, and cleaned with care on their exterior before being carried to the vehicle. "Article 63. After the work of each night, and before quitting their place of business, the scavengers are obliged to wash and clean the places which they have occupied. They are not allowed to use the emptying buckets for water. "Article 66. The privy boxes or vaults must be thoroughly emptied, swept, and cleaned. The workmen who find ef- fects of any kind, and especially objects which might indi- cate or cause suspicion of crime or fault, must notify the next day the mayor or chief of police. "Article 87. The vehicles for transporting night soil must be constructed with solidity, kept in good condition, and loaded in such a manner that the vessels lay always on the part opposite to their openings. "Article 88. The vessels containing the night soil are to be conducted directly to the dumping places, and to be kept always in good condition, so that nothing can be spilt or escape from them. "Article 89. In case of the spilling of night soil in the public way, the scavenger must proceed immediately to remove it and to wash the ground. In default of which he shall be deprived of his office and fees. These rules and regulations might, we think, be examined carefully, with a view of incorporating some of them, modi- fied perhaps, into our own ordinances. It yet remains to speak of the mode of disinfection. The committee think it advisable and proper, as a committee on disinfectants already exists, to refer the subject to them, 15 and ask that they report to us the best disinfectants for night-soil, with a view to its cheapness, small bulk, and utility as a fertilizer, and the best mode of using it. The present method of using slaked lime gives off a very offensive ammoniacal odor, and deteriorates the mate- rial as a fertilizer through the loss of the ammonia. The dry-earth system, which has been highly recommended, re- quires 1| pounds by weight or 1| pints by measure for the complete deodorization or disinfection after each defection for thirty days; then supposing a family of eight to be regular in their daily visit, the weight for removal, plus the night-soil, would be 360 pounds, or between 5 and 6 bush- els. In the report of the Committee on Disinfectants made to the Board of Health June 4, 1867, carbolic acid was highly spoken of, but its expense was adduced as a great objection. Charcoal was spoken of highly in the same re- port, as also sulphate of iron. In regard to the latter, the proprietors of some of the poudrette factories recommend it highly. In conclusion, we would recommend that before dispos- ing of night-soil to poudrette factories their mode of dis- infection, with the material used, should be stated to the Board of Health, which Board at the same time should have a due regard to the right of proprietorship in its use and privacy. Respectfully submitted. Wm. Lee, M. D. Wm. F. Wallace, M. D. F. M. Stringfield, M. D.