History and development of the sewerage system of Baltimore up to 1916 / Alexander A. Lopata.

HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE SEWERAGE SYSTEM OF BALTIMORE UF TO 1916

ALEXANDER A. LOPATA

SUMMARY OP THUS IS

Little is known about the sewerage system of Baltimore
prior to 1905 except the fact that it consisted of cesspools,
private drains and few scattered storm-water drains. Several
commissions appointed between 1862 end 1699 investigated and
reported on imprevemerts to the sewerage system of Baltimore
but little material propress made.

The real sewerage system of Baltimore dat^s back to
the formation of the Baltimore Sewer-ape ComTission in 1905.
The corrrrission authorized by the Sewerape-Enabl inp Act of
1904 served until 1916. During this period of time practically
the entire city, as it existed prior to the annexation, had
been properly sewered, a sewerage treatment -works at Beck River
built, a sewerage pumping station constructed, Jones Fails
covered from Baltimore Street to Freston Street with a highway
built over it, and the storm-water drainage system greatly
extended and Improved. The work of the Baltimore Sewerage
Commission was financed by three bond issues totaling $23,000,000,

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EARLY HISTORY

As the founders of Baltimore came from England, it
was natural for their to adopt the method used in England for
disposing- of human wastes, that of using cesspools. The sandy
soil of Baltimore was suited for the use of cesspools, and the
fit /-hen first dug of reasonable size and depth will under
favorable circumstances, serve Its purpose for a long time with-
out causing trouble or expense. At the houses were scattered
when Baltimore was young, it was simple to replace a cesspool
that had filled up by a new one, but ss the population increased
and bouses were built close together, it was not easy to find
a new site for a cesspool when the old one filled up. Also
the introduction of the Gunpowder water in 1881 provided a
liberal supply of water for water closets. Increased use of
w&ter-closets was necessarily followed by more rapid filling
up of cesspools and property holders were glad to avail them-
selves of access to storm drains for the purpose of getting
rid of the overflow of cesspools. Where storm-water drains
were not available, permission was readily granted to construct
private drains to the nearest water course. Though private
drains were expensive and only corporations or persons of wealth
could afford them, by 1G05 there were 15,000 private drains in
use.

When pits became filled to the top resort was had to
the night-soil scavenger who cleaned the pit more or less
thoroughly carting the contents to spots authorized by the Board
of Health. There they were loaded on scows, removed to some

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locality beyond the city limits and sold to farmers for ferti-
lizing purposes.

Tbe early city of Baltimore had & topography such that
the extensive water front, the ravines and streams could provide
adequate drainage. Put wtfefe the expansion of the city and the
filling in of ravines leaving arched f lat-bottorred openings
at the bottorr of some of the ravines, soon found Baltimore
without adequate drainage. Rocks washed from tbe surface col-
lected on the fl&t bottoms and formed traps for silt, dirt and
wastes which were allowed to flow down tbe open street gutters.
The accumulation of rock, dirt and wastes decreased the size
of the opening and during sumrrer months the stench from the
sewers was very ob iectionsble . During heavy rains the sewers
were unable to drain tbe storm water fast enough, and in places
where there were no sewers, and they were many ss sewers were
few and far apart, the water flowed down along the surface of
the streets. The water flowing along the surface would tend
to accumulate in hollows and depressions causing iniury to
property and loss of life. To relieve the existing sewers of
their burden during storms and to provide sewers in places where
there were no sewers, by 1887 the city had expended $ 4, 000, 000
in construction of 33 miles of drains v ut that was insufficient.

Considering five persons to a private drain, it would
mean that 75,000 persons disposed of their wastes in the patapsco
River Basin. Engineers on the other band estimated that tbe

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Patapsco River could only dispose of the sewerage by dilution
of a city of s population of 37,000. Added to the waste from
the privs-te drains must he added the wastes brought down by the
storm-fc&ter drains. With more sewerage being poured into the
Basin and Jones Falls than the Fstspsco River could dispose of,
the Easin became a gigantic cesspool with the odor being
noticeable for miles around. Records show that with the wind
in the right direction, the odor was objectionable 9 miles
away in Towson.

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THE BALTIMORE SEWERAGE COMMISSION

1

It seems strange that Baltimore sbould A delay~"so long
in providing a rrodern sewerage system ( (bui phe sandy soil of
Baltimore was well suited for cesspools and many felt that as
long £s the cesspools were economically ,1ustif table there was
no need for a rrodern sewerage system. Baltimore also showed
little progressive spirit* But it was not alone internal forces
hut external forces that delayed a sewerage system. As the State
Constitution provided that it was necessary for the State Legis-
lature to authorize a loan for any sewerage improvements, and
as the majority of the members were from the counties there
was little hope for an authorization of a loan without great
demand from Baltimore City. The counties bordering on the
Chesapeake Bay viewed with great concern any project to "build
a sewerage system discharging sewerage into the Chesapeake
Bay &nd thus menacing the oyster industry.

The condition of the Basin had sroused many people
and now with the Great Fire of February, 1904 to awaken them,
the people of Baltimore demanded that a modern sewerage system
be put in while reconstruction was going on in the city. On
April 7, 1904, the General Assembly of Maryland passed the
Sewerege-Enabling Act, enpowering the Mayor and City Council
of Baltimore to issue stock to en arrount not exceeding #10,000,000
for the purpose of defraying the cost of establishing a sewerage
system, for Baltimore. The act authorized the Mayor to appoint
a .corrrr ission of seven men with the Mayer to be a member ex-
officio. The commission as then to appoint a Chief Engineer.

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The comrrission had full authority over the building 1 of the
sewerage system but no power to make purchases or award contracts
exceeding $500, to decide matters of a legal nature or to
determine the amount of money to he spent annually. The
counties to safe-guard the oyster Industry had included in the
act a provision specifying that no sewerage or sewerae-e effluent
was to be discharged into the waters of the Chesapeake Bay
that could in any way contaminate or harm the oysters.

The Baltimore Sewerage Comrrission originally con-
sisted of;

feter Leary, Jr., Chairman

Hon. E. Clay Timanus, frsyor

Ira Remeen

ftilliarr D. Piatt

Ji'orris ,j hit ridge

Charle s England

J. Edwerd Wohler

Harry W. Roger, Secretary
Calvin V, Hendrick was selected as Chief Engineer.
The commission was in existence from 1905-1916 and during that
period there were several changes in the membership. In 1911
Charles England succeeded Peter Leary, Jr. as Chairman upon

Mr. Le&ry's death February 15, 1911. William A. Mclntiri was

appointed to fill the facancy in the comsrission, However,
Mr. ivclntire died March 3, 1912 and was succeeded by .Villiarr
B. Kines. J. Edward tfohler died August 6, 1912; Gustav

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Siegmund receiving the appointment to his position. /lilliam
D. Pl*tt died December £2, 1913 sr.d Thomas J. Shryock was
appointed to the vacancy.

SE'ABRAGE DISPOSAL FLANT
As the commission could not discharge the sewerage
directly into the Chesapeake Bay, it had to have a sewerage
treatment plant built. There were three methods considered:

(1) That of Intermittent Filtration throush natural sand
beds in Anne Arundel County .

(2) That of In terir.it tent Filtr&tion through artificially
constructed sand beds of select sand.

(Z>) That of preliminary treatment in Septic Tanks,

followed b$ sprinkling over filter beds of broken
stone with a final purification by intermittent
filtration through artificial sand filters.

ter conducting mar.y experimental tests upon the
woil of Anne Arundel County, the soil was found to be unsuited
for filtration purposes, ss it conte ined clay matter. That
necessitated the abandonment of the first plan.

It was next decided to see if artificial sand beds
could be used. The sard necessary for this method was esti-
mated at 7,000,000 cubic yards. Examination of all suitable
sand beds in the locality revealed the fsct that there were
4,700,000 cubic yards of sand available. As it would be
too expensive to import sand that plan had to be dropped.

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After iruch deliberation, the system selected consisted
of trebtrrent In septic t&r.ks followed by sprinkling over filter
beds of broken stone, with a final purification by lnterrait-
tend filtration through artificial sard filters. To test the
system, an experimental station was built in Aalbrook con-
sisting of a testing plart, a laboratory, arc sewers at a
cost of | 44, COO. The results indicated that the intermittent
send filter beds could "be eliminated frsm the system this
saving over :£, 000,000 in original construction and upkeep.
The sewerage would now pass through three steps of the
purification process, the septic tank, sprinkling filters
and settling basins.

The site selected for the plant was Back River. As
estimates showed that to sewer snd drain the city in accordance
with the Sewerage-Enabling Act would require over twice the
amount then authorized and as it was not certain that suf-
ficient rroney would be forthcoming later on, it was deemed
advisable to build the Disposal Plant in units. Thus in case
work h&d to stop due to lack of money there would be a complete
workable plant e&peble of serving about half the population
of the city.

The plant was begun in 1907 and by October, 1911 the
first purification of sewerage wes performed. By the end of
1911 when the first oj 10, 000,000 had all bean expended, the
plant was capable of purifying the sewerage from 275,000

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persons. Ey 1916 the plant had been expanded until it had a

capacity of 600,000 persons. Construction on the plant is

expected to continue until the sewerage disposal plant has a

capacity of 1,000,000.

OUTFALL SE'nER

The Outf&ll Sewer extends from Chase and Durham
Streets to the Sewer ape Disposal Plant &t Back River. Aork
on the Outfall Sewer mas started December £7, 1906 and
completed on August 1, 1S09 at a cost of U, 280, 621. 53. The
sewer is of the horseshow type being- built of concrete, the
lower h&lf being lined with brick. From Chase and Durham
Streets to tfsdison srd Luzerne Streets, a distance of 3,879.21
feet, the sewer is 10 feet 9 inches high and 12 feet wide;
ther.ce to the Disposal Flant, a distance of 26,351.80 feet,
it is 11 feet high and 12 feet 3 inches wide. The Outfall
Sewer is a gravity sewer with the flow from the High Level
Interceptors entering by gravity while the flow from the Low
Level Interceptors is pumped up to the Outfsll Sewer from
the Pumping Station a height of 72 feet.

SEWERAGE SYSTEM

As the sewerage had to undergo treatment before
being disch&rged into the Eey , the separate system was the
only possible one. In the separate system the sewer*sge
system is independent of the drainage system. If both the
sewerage and the storm-water had been allowed to pass into

the same system the cost of purification and the size of the

disposal plant, the Outfall Sewer and the tumping Station would
have made the system too expensive.

The sewertpe system consists of a number of High
Level and Lorn Level Interceptors with many lateral sewers.
From the lateral sewers are run house connections. The
interceptors tre circular in shape having a layer of hard "brick
with layers of water-proofing between the brlcfe and concrete
with 8 sub-drain beneath. A minimum diameter of eipht inches
was adopted for the laterals with connections running to
property line fixed at six inches as minimum. In residence
districts the laterals are deep enough below the ground to
drain the "average basement ard in the business section to
drain basements 13,5 feet deep. The sewerage system was
started October ££, 1906 and the first house (1701 Jef-
ferson Street) was connected and caring for the sanitary sewer-
age of the city begun, py the *r.d of 1916 there were 83,053
housfe connected.

STORN'-WATER DRAINAGE

Unlike the sewerage system which rad to wait until
the Sewerage Disposal Flar.t and the Outfall Sewer was com-
pleted, the drains were put into service soon after work
began. Although not as much money was expended on the drains
at first as they were not considered as necessary as the
sewerage system, yet by the end of 1914 most of the city was

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adequately equipped with drains. The si?e of the smallest drain
6 inch cast iron pipe, while the largest was a horseshoe drain
96 inches by 93 inches. The drains discr.arre into Jones Falls,
Gwynng Falls and the Easin and are built to handle a rain at
the rate of 4 inches per hour.

SEWERAGE PtTMPIMG STATION

Construction on the station iras started in 1907 and
the station put into operation January 31, 1912. The station
is located at Eastern Avenue and President Street. The
sewerage from two Low Level Interceptors flows to the station.
The West Low Level Interceptor is 84 inches in diaireter and
the East Lorc Level Interceptor is 60 inches in diaireter.
Both interceptors enter the station at 13 feet below mean
low-tide. The purrping station is equipped with three verticle
triple expansion pumping engines. Each engine has a rated
capacity for pumping 27.5 million gallons per day of sewerage
against a total head of 72 feet when operating at 20 R.F.M.
Space is left so that two additional pumps of similar size
can be Installed.

JOKES FALLS

The open Jones Falls had long been an eye sore and
when an additional #10,000,000 was turned over for s sewerage
system in 1911, one of the first projects considered was
Jones Falls. Jones Falls was enclosed In conduits from
Baltimore to Chase Streets. From Chase to Freston Streets a
tunnel was dug across a bend in the river. Over the conduits

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w&s constructed a low grade street. The conduits hsd a capacity
of 15,000 gallons per second sr.d the work was completed by 1914.

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kethod op treatment of sewerage

The sewer goes from the houses through the house
connections into lateral sewers hy grsvity. The lateral sewer
discharges into larger sewers called interceptors; in the
interceptors, if it is s high level interceptor, the sewerage
flows hy gravity to tire Outfall Sewer. If the interceptor is
a low level interceptor the sewerage flows by gravity to the
Sewerage Pumping Station. At the Furcr/ing Station it is lifted
72 feet through force mains into the Outfall Sewer. In the
Outfall Sewer it flows a distance of rear 6 miles to the
Sewerage Disposal Hant all flow taking place by gravity.

At the mouth of the Outfall Sewer are installed
screens which catch such things as sticks, rags, etc.,
which are removed by hand and burned. The sewerage then
passes through the Meter-house where the flow is measured,
then into settling tanks. It remains in the settling tanks
for a period of from two to eight hours depending on the rate
of flOTJ of the sewer*g«. The liquid now passes on to an
intercepting channel to'revelviBg screens of a 20 mesh where
more of the suspended solids ere removed . Proo the revolving
screens house it passes to the control house which distributes
it to the sprinklers in the trickling filters located at a
level 15 feet b r -low the settling tanks. The flow is so
regul&ted that the si?e of the spray increases erd decreases
periodically .

Spraying of the sewerage through the air is essential

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to the aeration and purification of the sewerage. As the
sewerage falls on these beds it trickles down through 8.5
feet of broken stone varying 1 in size from 1 inch to S.5 inches.
The passing of the sererage through these heds forma a gelatine-
like film on the stones in which certain bacteria multiply by
the millions attacking and killing the injurious bacteria in
the sewerage. The sewer&ge effluent on reaching the bottom of
these stone beds is practically pure. It is then carried by
drains to the settling tanks for the purpose of settling out
certain mineral substances. The sewerage effluent then passes
through a powerhouse where a drop of 18 feet is used to operate
turbines. Electricity generated by those turbines is used
to light the plant, run sludge pumps , and lift clarified
sewerage to a water tower for flushing purposes. From the
powerhouse the effluent flows down to Back River. The sludge
which deposits out of the sewerage is pumped into separate
digestion tanks. After remaining in the tanks long enough to
digest, it is drawn off into sand beds to drain. The sludge
is quickly reduced by evaporation and filtration and the result-
ing nearly dry humus and mineral matter is inodorous and in-
offensive. The sludge is then given free of charge to farmers
who use it as a fertilizer preparatory to planting.

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The information for this thesis was obtained from
the following sources:

1. Report of the Baltimore Sewerage Commission — 1862

2. ' Report of the Baltimore Sewerage Commission--1897

5. Second Report of the Baltimore Sewerage Corrmiss ion--1899

4. Sewerare-fcnahling Act of 1904--Chapter 349

5. Nine Annual Reports of the Sewerage Commission of
Baltimore— 1906-1914

6. Reprint of Articles Pertaining to Sewerage System of
Baltimore City--Issued by the Bureau rf Sewers--1927

7. Tour of the Back River Sewerage Disposal Flant and
an interview with Mr. Cromwell, one of the chemists
at the plant.

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