REPORT 
OF THE 
BOARD OF HEALTH 
OF THE 
DISTRICT OP COLUMBIA, 
ON THE MATTER OE THE 
IMPROVEMENT OF THE SEWERAGE OF WASHINGTON. 
[On the 17th of May, 1878, the clerk of the Senate Committee on the District of 
Columbia addressed to the Board of Health a note stating that lie was directed by that 
Committee to enclose copies of Senate bills 121(5 and 1248, relating (1) to the improve- 
ment of the sanitary condition of Washington by deepening the river channel, and (2) 
to improve the sewerage of the city; and stating, also, that the Committee desired the 
Board to furnish them all possible information relative to the existing system of sew- 
erage, and suggestions in regard to its improvement. 
Such proceedings were thereupon had that at a meeting held on the 6th day of 
June, 1878, a special committee, consisting of Messrs. Warden, Verdi, and Bliss, 
having been appointed at a former meeting to draw up a proper answer to the said com- 
munication, reported, recommending that the answer be the following ; and the said 
report was unanimously adopted.] 
REPORT. 
To the Honorable the Senate Committee on the District of Columbia: 
Gentlemen : Your communication of the 17th ultimo has received careful 
attention. So far as it relates to sewerage we now respond to it as follows; 
The sewerage of this District has, for a. long time, been matter of very 
great concern to the Board, notwithstanding its imperfect powers; but, 
since the reception of the communication just referred to, the Board has 
taken various measures to acquaint itself more thoroughly with the whole 
subject. 
There can be no reasonable question that the existing system of sewerage 
is not at all adequate. It very greatly needs improvement. 
Plans for its improvement have been laid before the Board. These have 
been carefully and patiently considered and compared with other projects. 
Our considerations have not overlooked the theories of sanitary engineers 
who have contributed to the literature of the subject; but we have endeav- 
ored to give no more than due respect to what we find in books in relation 
to sewerage. It is important to attend sufficiently to the theories of writers ; 
but it is important also not to be too greatly influenced thereby. 
In one of the communications made to us we find the suggestion, in 
effect, that, to remedy an evil pointed out in that communication, it is neces- 
sary to command the assent of nature. 
This is true enough ; but it is proper to assure ourselves that though, 
without the assent of nature, art is always powerless for good, there is no 
reason for attributing to nature a disposition to reject the modest help of 2 
avt. The sanitary engineer ought not to have to learn, that art and nature 
are not out of harmony when art sufficiently considers, and respects, and 
faithfully endeavors to assist, the works and ways of nature. 
The communication we have mentioned also says that the plan it offers 
proposes to solve an indicated problem as nature has always done it under 
similar circumstances. We nuist, however, bear in mind the almost infi- 
nite diversity of what may be distinguished as physique and physical con- 
ditions in the places where the work of sewerage is to be performed. 
In all that we shall say in this communication we shall constantly keep 
in.view the extremely marked peculiarity of physique and physical conditions 
in the city which is chiefly interested in the subject of this paper. We 
shall not attempt to apply to Washington ideas which, however applicable 
elsewhere, have no proper application here. 
It is convenient to refer to the following language put by the president of 
this Board into one of his reports : 
“The city of Washington is located on an area in the shape of a basin, having for 
its rim a circling range of low wooded hills, the highest point of this basin not being 
over forty feet above the surface of the great river Potomac. It is, therefore, with 
difficulty that it is drained; and, for the same reason, it is exposed to periodical 
freshets during the rainy seasons of spring and fall. Its shallowness is also the cause 
of many ponds of stagnant water.” 
In another part of the same report Dr. Verdi says : 
“ Washington, of old, was but a quagmire in winter and a sandy desert in summer, 
“ Washington, reclaimed, is anything but perfect.” 
Major Randolph, in an extremely interesting communication to the Board, 
expresses some of his ideas in this fashion ; 
“There is scarcely a city or town, situated upon tide-water, that does not find itself 
confronted with the difficulty of getting rid of the effete products of its population 
after it has descended to the general level of the ocean; for few of them are located 
upon the slopes of hills whose bases are washed by the constantly-outward flow of a 
large body of pure water. The city of Georgetown is, doubtless, attended with these 
favorable conditions to as great an extent as any city in the world. The whole of its 
sewage can be rapidly discharged into the deep channel of the Potomac, which, 
although subject to the oscillations of the tidal wave, is filled with the constantly- 
passing volume of the drainage of an immense area of back-country. But the city of 
Washington is built upon a broad and slightly-elevated plateau, confronted by what 
was formerly a tidal marsh and a large area, formerly called the Island, sloping gently 
from the river towards the rest of the city; while the river itself presents a wide 
extent of shallow flats between the land and the vital current of its waters. 
“Under such circumstances, the force of gravitation at the disposition of the 
engineer is entirely insufficient to propel the sewage along the distances involved in 
reaching the proper points of discharge. It is fortunate, however, that the difficulty 
can be entirely overcome by the application of artificial power.” 
It is in the presence of so sharp contrasts as the contrast between the 
topography of Georgetown and the topography of the adjacent capital of 
the United States that the great principles of sanitary engineering, as an 
art and a science, are most strikingly apparent. These great principles dis- 
cern completely the alternate conflict and harmony of the works and ways 
of nature with the works and ways of art. 
Another part of Major Randolph's carefully-considered communication 
runs as follows: 
“ Objection has lately been made by an authority in engineering to the direction in 
which I have proposed to propel the tide-locked sewage along B street, on the ground 
that it was forcing it up-hill, and contending against nature. But the only thing 
which was stated to determine the direction of up-hill wTas the fact that the bottom of 
the B-street sewer is about two feet lower at Seventeenth street than at Seventh street, 
and which was considered a descent of two feet to the mile, although lying below 
tide-level. The same objection applies to the Potomac river itself; for, at Easby’s wharf the bottom is twenty feet lower than it is at the deepest part, opposite to Syca- 
more Point, one mile lower down the river, being ten times the inclination of the 
B-street sewer. Yet the same engineer would not insist that the Potomac runs up-hill. 
But forcing water up-hill is rather an imitation of nature, who forces water up-hill 
into the clouds, in order that it may he transported to the sources of our rivers, and 
flow to a distance.” 
Not precisely on the ground so pointed out, but for reasons which appear 
to us unquestionably solid, we conceive that the exception here in question 
is not fatal to the plan to which it is opposed. 
Another exception to the same plan is that it is opposed to the principle 
that it is better to draw than to drive water. This exception we consider as 
too broad. Of course there may be conditions in which it is better to drive 
than to draw a .stream ; and the practical question is, whether the conditions 
here in question are such as to give a proper preference to the drawing pro- 
cess or to dictate preference of the driving process. 
It is also said to be a principle never to resort to artificial means where 
natural means are adequate. But, as already intimated, we consider that 
art and nature are appointed to work together; and that, even where 
natural means are barely adequate, artificial means may serve a better pur- 
pose in the circumstances. At the same time we fully recognize the princi- 
ple that art is always bound to take the due advantage of nature. 
No one here proposes to rely on natural means alone. The simplest plan 
proposed makes large resort to artificial means and measures. 
It is well suggested .in Latham’s valuable work on Sanitary Engineering 
that “ when the natural drainage area of the District has been well defined, 
it will be well to ascertain what nature has done for the drainage, and also 
what has already been done by art in the way of accomplishing the work of 
sewerage of the District.” * 
We have not neglected this eminently practical suggestion in the least; 
but we have shown already that the physique and physical conditions of 
•Washington are very markedly peculiar. They are partly due to nature, 
partly due to art; and neither art nor nature seems here to have done its 
finest work. 
In the already cited report of Dr. Verdi stand the following words relating 
to our sewerage: 
“The Board of Public Works instituted a grand and comprehensive system; one 
that should reach every household in the District; and this probably was its first mis- 
take; for the work so organized was so extensive as to be liable to the imperfections 
that are so glaring now; and its sewer system is one that did not escape the confusion 
of hurriedness. The rapidity with which that work was carried on did not permit 
of that mature reflection necessary to secure the construction of a perfect work. In 
many instances, therefore, these sewers are inadequate in size, faulty in construction, 
wrong in conception. Where inadequate in size, they overflow at the fall of every 
heavy rain; where faulty in construction, they give way under pressure; where wrong 
in conception, they are a source of positive evil.” 
Dr. Verdi did not fail to connect with this language clear indication, that 
he took into consideration all the difficulties and embarrassments of the au- 
thorities who had charge of the work in question. And it is important con- 
stantly to bear in mind the great diversity of opinion as to what should even 
now be done with a view to make the sewerage in question what it ought 
to be. 
Among the communications we have received is one from Mr. Edward 
Chesley, who appears to have devoted much attention to the subject. 
He remarks, in substance, that we have sometimes to deal with a torrent 
which cannot get away fast enough, and sometimes with a sluggish stream of 
* Page 88, 4 
dirty water which cannot get away at all; that to get over the first part of 
this evil we have dug the discharge ends of the sewers below tide water; 
and that to remedy this evil in a way to command the assent of nature is 
the problem. 
Thereupon, he proposes alteration and extension in this way : 
‘ ‘ First, at any point as near the outlet as possible, where we can get a descent of 10 
feet in the 100, we will, near the top of the descent, divide the main sewer into two, 
having a combined area a little less than the main sewer—since a rapid current will 
compensate for less area and greater friction—we will place one to coincide at the 
top, the other at the bottom of the large sewer, in order that, in the ordinary How, 
the lower one will receive the entire sewerage—thus concentrating the current, and 
leaving the other dry. 
“ As we approach the foot of the hill we will subdivide—making four small sewers, 
with a combined capacity a little greater than the single one above—to compensate for 
greater friction, and a more sluggish flow. 
“ Three of these small ones will coincide with the two larger at the top; the fourth 
with the bottom of the one that receives the water from the large one, which will still 
still further concentrate the current in the one small sewer, thus giving it a more rapid 
flow, which will enable it to keep its course free, while the other three remain dry. 
“ On leaving the descent they all come to the same grade, and as near the surface 
as possible. 
“ It will be seen that three of these sewers are reserved in case of a flood, which is 
comparatively pure water, and rapidly runs off, leaving the sewer dry and clean to 
act as a ventilator—the sewer, which is in constant use, being lower at its head, of 
course receives the greater quantity of water, and, consequently, a more thorough 
washing at each rainfall. 
“ In this way we manage the small but deadly stream, and provide for and utilize 
the torrent, avoiding entirely the necessity of digging below tide-water. 
“ This is made clear by tracing the large sewer to its outlet. The top of the sewers 
all being on the same grade, of course any enlargement must be downward, and, con- 
sequently, below tide-water. 
“This plan I claim to he natural and, consequently, permanent, (for we must look 
to our needs a half century hence,) since nature has used this plan to get successfully 
over similar obstacles at the mouth of the Mississippi, the Nile, the Danube, the 
Ganges, and other places, since the world began. 
“ The expense of this plan is not necessarily excessive, since the four small sewers 
can he constructed for little, if any greater expense than the one large one ; for once 
done the expense ends. 
“ This plan, in connection with a sewer-gas trap, which I now submit, seems to me 
to offer the solution sought for this great sanitary problem. 
“This trap has a fall of at least forty-five inches from where it enters the opening to 
the bottom, and arise of nineteen-and-a-half inches to the opening of the sewer, with 
a round smooth bottom, favorable to freedom from mud by the fall of the water, and 
does not depend on the top plate for its efficiency, as said plate is always loose, and 
often broken.” 
The next plan we propose to notice is that presented by Mr. W. D. 
Hughes. 
This gentleman presents the plan of a sewer from Centre Market to the 
Potomac on the line of Eighth street, connecting with the canal sewer. 
This, it is said, would afford a direct and rapid outlet for the drainage of the 
city. The projector considers that it would have ample fall. He points 
out that the fall, which is now distributed upon two miles and a half, could 
be concentrated upon three-quarters of a mile. Attention is invited to the 
fact that in addition to the long circuit which the water has to travel, the 
fall, little as it is, is not equally distributed. It is said that from Sixth street 
to Seventeenth street there is not any fall, but just the contrary ; and that, 
therefore, while the Potomac runs actively, the drainage is not benefited by 
its activity, as there is no fall in the sewer to carry the water to the river. 
Mr. Hughes explains that the proposed sewer would be different; that the 
entire fall from B street north to the Potomac, at Eighth street, would 
be utilized by a uniform grade, and there would be ample drainage; that 
the proposed sewer would drain rapidly ; that it would not only have ample 5 
fall to wash itself, but it would empty the canal sewer and its tributaries. 
Thus, says Mr. Hughes, the canal sewer would be utilized. It would no 
longer be charged with stagnant water and indescribable impurities, and the 
property upon its line would have the advantages of active drainage. 
It is next explained that by opening the proposed lock on the mouth of the 
canal sewer at Seventeenth street at the outgoing of the tide, or at other 
periods, a stream from the Potomac would make a circuit of the sewers and 
return to the river at Eighth street. This, we are told, could be done in 
times of droughts, or at other periods when it would be deemed necessary 
to give the sewers a special washing out; indeed, it might be let flow stead- 
ily, provided a freshet was not anticipated. 
Mr. Hughes says : 
“ The water would have the same flow through the sewers that it has in the river. 
The Potomac would be the source and the river would be the emptying point. The 
water would flow with the same force by either circuit; it would only be a diversion 
of the water of the Potomac. Consider this; compare it with the present sluggish 
and stagnant sewerage! As a sanitary measure, it would be above price. In order 
to guard against high tides, it would be commendable to have a gate on the mouth of 
the contemplated sewer, and also on the eastern mouth of the canal sewer. These 
gates could be so constructed as to be self-opening and closing. The expense of con- 
structing them would be small. Should the water rise in the Potomac, whether by 
tide or freshet, the gates would close by the action of the water, and prevent its flow 
into the city; and the moment the water in the river would subside, the gates would 
open by the pressure of the water in the sewers. Apart from freshets, it would be 
well to keep the tide from entering the sewers. The tides—varying as they do from 
two and a half to nearly five feet—are freshets upon a small scale. They drive sewer- 
gas into all the buildings in the city. They also force the impure matter in the sewers 
into the city. Experience has demonstrated that the flow of water caused by local 
rains, no matter how heavy, had uniformly subsided many hours before the rise in 
the Potomac, as it takes considerable time for the mountain waters which swell the 
river to reach this city. When the gates would close by tide or freshet, the sewers 
would have ample capacity to hold the drainage for the time being; in no case could 
the water within rise higher than the water outside the gates. The gates would be 
positive preventives to the flow of back water; therefore the hurtful filth heretofore 
described could not be driven into the city, its houses, stores, or streets; nor could 
debris from the river enter the sewers. In times of freshets there is an excessive pres- 
sure upon the sewers at the Botanical Garden, where the Tiber-creek and the canal 
sewers meet. So great is the pressure that the sewers are liable to burst at any time, 
to the great danger of the surrounding property. The sewer which I suggest would 
relieve the pressure mentioned.” 
In a subsequent communication Mr. Hughes proposes a plan by which, 
he says, 'l the drainage of the city of Washington can be successfully ac- 
complished by artificial means, by a combination of water-power and steam- 
power.” That new plan is noticed in another part of this paper. 
We have also received a communication from Mr. Benjamin Severson. 
That gentleman explains that he has before the Senate Committee on the 
District of Columbia what he supposes to be a complete plan for draining 
and sewering the canal and Tiber valleys, and for the improvement of the 
Potomac river, showing also the intimate relations between these highly 
important matters; but of this plan he regrets that he cannot give the 
Board a copy. He explains, however, that that plan is for intercepting all 
the sewage reaching the valleys named, turning their flow eastward, and dis- 
charging them through the mouth of the Eastern Branch into the deep 
water of the Potomac, south of the Arsenal; their flow being aided by the 
waste-water of Rock Creek and by a large volume of tide-water, so admitted 
at the foot of Seventeenth street as to insure a constant flow through the 
sewer in but one direction. He remarks that this plan is very simple, and 
that he believes it to be the best and most economical that has been or can 
be devised; but that it or any other complete plan would require consider- 
able time for its execution, while the condition of the present sewer is so 6 
exceedingly offensive as to call for immediate relief. He therefore recom- 
mends the earliest possible execution of what he calls the first part, or work 
required for carrying out the plan at large, viz; the connection of Missouri 
avenue with the B-street sewer at Seventh street, and the causing of a large 
flow of tide-water through them, the flow to be but in one direction from 
Seventeenth street to the Potomac, south of the Arsenal. He points out 
that thus the flats, or any part of the river-front of the city, will be pre- 
vented from being befouled by the discharge of vile sewage upon them, and 
the sewage being thus promptly removed from the sewers by the large flow of 
comparatively pure water through them, there will be no time for the sew- 
age to ferment and generate noxious gases, as they do at present. 
Mr. Severson explains that the heaviest part of the work so proposed will 
be the extension of the Missouri-avenue sewer—having a sectional area of 
twenty-six square feet—some seven hundred feet in length westward, and 
the connection of it with the B-street sewer at Seventh street. This, he 
suggests, may be done by contract, as it can be specifically described. He 
says that the other work, mainly at the western end, being more irregular, 
and consisting of excavation, dredging, and the formation of wooden trunks 
and tide-valves, all of a temporary character, to last only till a full and 
permanent plan can be carried out, plans for these parts cannot well be 
made without a survey, and therefore might be done by day’s work, under 
faithful superintendence. 
As to the cost of this first part of the plan, Mr. Severson says that it need 
not exceed fifteen thousand dollars. And he thinks that, with good man- 
agement, it may be accomplished with a somewhat less sum and in six 
weeks time. 
In the communication of Major Randolph to the Board appears this 
passage : 
“ It has been proposed to apply to the same general arrangement the feeble force 
which might be made available by enclosing a portion of the river water near Seven- 
teenth street, at high tide, and to depend upon the current thus set up, twice in 
twenty-four hours, due to the slight and transient inequality of the level at Seven- 
teenth street, and that of the Eastern Branch, a distance of three-and-a-half miles. 
By this means a small quantity of water might be passed to the south, and the sewage 
concentrated in Tiber Creek and the James Creek canal, there to become offensive; 
but the contents of the lateral branches having nearly reached the point of decompo- 
sition in their long transit from the upper parts of the city, would not be drawn off with 
the frequency and rapidity necessary to prevent the development of noxious gases in 
the neighborhood of Pennsylvania avenue. I think that so moderate an expenditure 
for steam-power as I have proposed should not be weighed in the balance against the 
health, or even the comfort, of the nation’s Capital.” 
The plan to which this language draws attention is essentially “ a method 
of so applying steam-power as,” in the opinion of the proposer, “ to coun- 
teract the evil effects consequent upon the unavoidable circumstances of the 
topography and hydrography of the site.” According to Major Randolph, 
his plan “accomplishes two results; one, the excessive dilution, and the 
other, the prompt removal, of the sewage to the southern extreme of the 
city, and into the deep water of the channel, near the arsenal.” 
The communication under notice indicates the line of the old canal, ex- 
tending from Seventeenth street to the eastern branch of the Potomac, near 
the arsenal, as the natural and the most economical location for a conduit 
to which steam-power may be applied ; and the elevations of the city on each 
side of this line, when considered with the distances, are said to be barely suf- 
ficient to conduct the sewage, with the speed demanded by sanitary consid- 
erations, to the points where the artificial power is available. 
Attention is called by Major Randolph to the fact that the outlet of the 
B-street sewer has a sectional area of one hundred and fifteen square feet; that It is formed by a rectangle fifteen feet wide and five feet high, sur- 
mounted by a circular arc, whose versed sine is four feet; and that the bot- 
tom is placed five feet below mean high tide. It is proposed to enclose it 
with walls of water-tight masonry, with an opening of the same form and 
area, but situated eleven feet lower, the top of one being two feet lower 
than the bottom of the other. It is explained that if the plan now under 
notice be adopted and carried into effect, the water, before issuing from the 
lower outlet, will pass through a circular opening of twelve feet in diameter, 
and that within this circle a four-bladed propeller, somewhat of the form of 
a ship propeller, will revolve horizontally, with the shaft vertical, and that 
thus the water will be forced upward or downward as may be desired. 
According to the views of the author of the plan in question, this arrange- 
ment leaves the discharging capacity of the sewer intact, while it places 
the propeller where it can lift the water from the level of extreme low tide; 
and when excessive rain-storms require the full discharging capacity of the 
main sewer, the revolution being reversed, all the power of the engine ac- 
celerates the discharge outward as originally designed, in effect largely in- 
creasing the capacity of that sewer. 
It is claimed that during periods of hot and dry weather, when decom- 
position of the sewage would otherwise take place, the propeller will raise 
from extreme low tide to three feet above mean high tide, if desired, 5,500 
cubic feet = 41,250 gallons = 343,750 lbs., per minute, or 7,920,000 cubic feet 
= 59,400,000 gallons = 494,000,000 lbs. = 221,000 tons of water per day of 
24 hours. Attentiou is then directed to the fact that, according to the esti- 
mate of the board of survey for the improvement of the harbor of Washington 
and Georgetown, that portion of Washington of which the sewage discharges 
along B street receives twenty tons of solid contaminating matter every 
twenty-four hours; and three hundred times that weight of water, or 6,000 
tons per day, is sufficient to so dilute the offensive matter as to render it 
inoffensive and innoxious. And, thereupon, it is suggested that, according 
to this authority, the sewage will be diluted nearly thirty-seven times more 
than is necessary. 
It is important to remark that, according to Major Randolph, the Missouri- 
avenue sewer and its branches receive the benefit of the proposed arrange- 
ment, through connection at Sixth street with the B-street sewer at Seventh 
street. 
By the plan, of which an outline is here sketched, the apparatus proposed 
to be placed at 17th street is relied upon to supply all the pure water neces- 
sary for an excessive dilution, and to add a volume to Tiber Creek or 
James Creek canal sufficient to cause a constant outward flow, carrying the 
sewage to the deep water of the river before it can become foetid. This 
apparatus, explains projector, “ is to work periodically, so as to cause 
a frequent puls"' and renovation in the whole system of depressed sewers 
independently of the stage of the tide.” 
It will be observed that the plan provides for engines, with double boilers 
and cylinders, protected by brick houses with fire-proof roofs, and resting on 
solid foundations ; and that gates are provided on each side of the appara- 
tus, so as to shut out the water and to pump out the enclosure when it may 
be necessary to repair or replace any part of it. 
According to the views of Major Randolph, when that very obvious im- 
provement is carried out of connecting the high ground about the Monu- 
ment with that near 19th street, by raising Virginia avenue above the flood- 
line of the Potomac, thus preventing its encroachment on the city, the pro- 
peller at 17th street will discharge all the sewage and a considerable rain-fall 
in addition, notwithstanding the flood, it being of no consequence, at such 8 
times, in which direction the sewage is discharged. He points out that the 
coincidence of extraordinary rain-storms in the city with high floods in the 
Potomac is of very rare occurrence, generally the rains producing the floods 
having subsided before the swollen volume of the river reaches Washington ; 
and that when such coincidence does occur, the injurious results, if not pre- 
vented, will be mitigated by the action of this engine, as well as by that of 
another engine to be located about 9th street, and propelling the water in 
the other direction. 
Major Randolph also submits that by filling all the sewers to the maxi- 
mum elevation—which act is accompanied with a very slow current—and 
then reversing the revolutions during the stages of low tide, a rapid current 
will be created, due to the previously accumulated head, combined with the 
action of the propeller, and that by this means most of the sediment that 
may have been deposited may be removed. He explains that this operation 
can be carried on in cold weather, when it is unimportant in which direction 
the discharge is made. 
Another of his explanations is that, after each filling of the system with 
pure water, the engine at 17th street will propel only to the extent of pre- 
venting an outward flow, while the engine at 9th street will empty the sys- 
tem and force the contents of contaminated water through a circular con- 
duit, to be constructed along the most direct line available, into the large 
culvert provided for Tiber Creek. The proposed diameter of the conduit is 
five feet, with an area of twenty square feet. The propeller is to be about 
five feet in diameter, and to b6 worked in the same way and with similar 
arrangements as that at 17th street, the latter being of such greater diameter 
only for the purpose of affording the same discharging capacity as the outlet 
of the main sewer has at present. According to the projector, it will have 
the same elevating power, and will raise the water from low tide and main- 
tain a constant head of six feet in the conduit three thousand feet long, 
causing it to flow with a velocity of 275 feet per minute, or miles per 
hour. The calculated quantity of water is 59,400,000 gallons in 24 hours. 
The plan proposes a 100-horse power engine at each point, one-horse 
power being that which will raise 33,000 pounds one foot high in one 
minute, or 5,500 pounds six feet high in one minute. It is said that as the 
engine must raise 343,750 pounds six feet high per minute, the horse-power 
required for the work is 62.5 ; and as not more than 25 per cent, of this 
power will be lost in the machinery itself, there will be applied 75-horse 
power, which is an excess. 
Remarking that the consumption of fuel by steam-engines depends upon 
their quality and their management, those of the best quality, properly 
managed, consuming only 2| pounds of coal per hour for each horse-power, 
Major Randolph explains that one of these engines of 100-horse power will 
consume 225 pounds of coal per hour, and, supposing it to run day and 
night, the consumption will be 5,400 pounds, or about 2| tons per day, 
worth about $lO. It is further estimated that for attendance would be 
required, one engineer, at $3, and one fireman, at $1.50—$4.50 per day. 
If the engine should be run all night this expense would be doubled, 
making $9 per day. But it is said that there will be no necessity for the 
operating of the engine except during dry and warm weather. 
Mr. Chesley says: 
“The proposition to employ steam-power in connection with tide-locks seems but 
an inadequate remedy for the evils of that system, with its own additional objection 
of augmenting those disadvantages, and great and continued expense. ” 
Mr. Severson has informed the Board that he considers the plan of Major 
Randolph exceptionable. 9 
Mr. Hughes says: 
“ The induction of water into the B-street sewer by steam-power or by dam would 
raise the water in the sewer and therefore would impede the action of the great num- 
ber of sewers which are tributary to the B-street sewer. Besides, the raising of the 
water in the sewer would force sewer-gas into the houses. The lowering of the water 
in the B-street sewer is what is needed. It would remove the pressure which forces 
sewer-gas into the houses and the streets. 
“Should the employment of steam-power be deemed advisable, the better way to 
utilize it would be to extend the B-street sewer to a remote point on the Potomac, and 
there construct a basin, say fifteen or twenty feet deep, and of ample capacity. This 
would form a receptacle for the sewage. By the aid of pumps the basin could be 
kept nearly empty. The vacuum would cause water from the Potomac to flow act- 
ively through the B-street sewer to the basin. It is better to draw than to drive 
water. By drawing it it would be lowered, while by driving it it would be height- 
ened. The heightening of the water in the B-street sewer would be an impediment 
to the drainage. Your object is not to impede the drainage; what you seek to accom- 
plish is the improvement of the drainage. 
“To make the basin twenty feet deep and keep it empty would be equivalent to 
lowering the Potomac twenty feet, so far as the drainage of the city is con- 
cerned. The basin constructed as suggested, a sewer could be built the bed of which 
could be sufficiently low—not Jess than three feet lower than the bed of the present 
B-street sewer—to perfect the drainage of the city for all time, and the raising of 
Pennsylvania avenue and other futile notions would be abandoned. Steam-power 
could thus be used advantageously, but it is better to exhaust all other means before 
incurring the perpetual expense which steam-power, and its use day and night, 
would incur. 
“The proposed injection of water into the B-street sewer, by steam-power or by 
a dam, would be hurtful. Instead of washing the foul matter out of the sewer, it 
would stir it up, and therefore would add to its hurtful tendencies, and would force 
sewer-gas and other offensive and poisonous odors into the houses and streets of the 
city.” 
In a subsequent communication, Mr. Hughes says that the proposed injec- 
tion of water into the B-street “ewer, as suggested by Messrs. Severson and 
Randolph, would be hurtful • that it would stir up a stench, instead of wash- 
ing the foul matter of the sewer; that it would be pestilential in its work- 
ings ; that it would poison the atmosphere of the entire city, by forcing 
sewer-gas and other offensive and poisonous odors into the houses and the 
streets. 
On the other hand, a wholly disinterested expert, Lieut. Hoxie, civil en- 
gineer of the District, being interrogated in open session of the Board, pro- 
nounced the plan of Major Randolph feasible, and expressed the judgment 
that it will accomplish all that it proposes; while of the Severson plan he 
said that, until he saw it demonstrated, he should doubt its adequacy. 
This opinion seems to us entitled to great weight. 
But it is necessary further to notice that Mr. Hughes has presented an- 
other plan—ihe plan already mentioned as considered by the proposer ade- 
quate to accomplish the drainage of Washington by a combination of water- 
power and steam-power. He says : 
“ The mode is as follows; To continue the B-street sewer to James’ Creek, and there 
construct a capacious basin, into which the drainage of the city would flow actively, 
the water in the basin to be pumped into the James’-Creek canal. By keeping the 
water in the reservoir low, the drainage would flow with great force into it, thus per- 
fecting the drainage of Ike city by draining the several sewers, including the B-street 
sewer, to their bottom. A sluice upon the B street sewer at Seventeenth street would 
let in a sufficient supply of water for sanitary purposes, and it would keep out the 
tide and the freshets. A stream, controlled as to quantity by the sluice, would flow 
with force from the Potomac through the B street sewer, or to the basin, removing 
all impurities and stagnant water from the sewer. The pressure of the Potomac 
would drive water with great force into the bottom of the sewer. The B-street sewer 
thus drained to its bottom, the many sewers which are tributary to it would act well, 
and the sanitary condition of Washington would be marvelously benefited. The 
Potomac could thus be controlled and used for the sanitary improvement of the city. 
The line of the B-street sewer to the basin would be by way of Missouri avenue—its 10 
present line—to Third street, and down Third street to the cistern, the north end of 
which would be nearly parallel with the northern limits of the Arsenal grounds. The 
Third street section would be new. The sewer would be entirely independent of and 
separate from the Tiber-Creek sewer and the James’-Creek canal. It is the Potomac 
on the west—raised by the impediment to its flow caused by the Long Bridge—and 
the Tiber-Creek sewer on the east that inundates the business portion, the centre of 
the city, in times of freshets, destroying thousands of dollars’ worth of property an- 
nually, and periodically deranging the entire sanitary condition of Washington. The 
Potomac under control—as I propose—and the Tiber-Creek sewer cut off, the tides and 
the freshets would be fully under control. James’ Creek presents extraordinary ad- 
vantages for the construction of the proposed basin. The basin is two-thirds made 
already. The land on the east and the west sides of the creek form two-thirds of the 
proposed capacious cistern. By putting a dam across the mouth of the creek—the 
water is not deep—and another in the James’-Creek canal at the north end of the 
Arsenal grounds, the basin would be substantially made. The Jaraes’-creek canal, at 
the point where the dam would be made, could readily be turned across Buzzard’s 
Point to a convenient inlet which is at the other side of the Point. The distance is 
only about three hundred yards; therefore, the expense of changing the line of the 
canal would be small, considering the end to be accomplished. The proposed loca- 
tion of the basin is most desirable. It is near the line of the sewer, and it would not 
present the least inconvenience by land or water. It could be made as large as a small 
lake without injuring a dollar’s worth of property. The pumping works could, with 
great convenience, be constructed at the north end of the basin, and the water could 
be pumped into the James’-Creek canal, which would be removed only the space of 
the dam from the cistern. To pump into the canal would be the same as to pump 
into the Potomac, as the water-level in the one and the other is the same. 
“The entire surroundings are most favorable to the carrying out of the plan. It 
would be well to put the bed of the Third-street sewer about one foot below the level 
of the bed of the Missouri-avenue sewer. This would accelerate the flow on the en- 
tire line of the B-street sewer; such would be the effect of the one-foot drop; and if, 
in future, the B-street sewer would be reconstructed the one foot would afford it a 
beneficial fall. The fall of the water into the basin would constitute a power. 
Wheels erected at the points where the water would enter the reservoir would be pro- 
pelled by it; all the water that would enter the basin would act upon the wheels; 
which, aided by steam pumps, would pump the water out of the reservoir into the 
canal. The pumps could be constructed so as to have deliveries for low and high water. 
A sluice upon the sewer near the basin would cause all flows above the level of the 
Potomac to pass into the canal. An outlet for that purpose would be constructed. 
At this outlet there would be a gate which would keep out the tides and freshets. 
The keeping out of the tides and the freshets would be a great sanitary measure. 
About one hundred yards from the reservoir the sewer would be divided into two open 
races. In these traps would be formed, by digging, a space in each race about three 
feet below the regular level of the race; these traps would be about 200 feet long. All 
solid substances would lodge in these traps. When necessary to clean one of them, 
the flow could be directed through the other race. Then the manure in the race could 
be shoveled out conveniently and boated off. In this way the Potomac would be freed 
from many impurities, and the channel of the river would not be filled up. Besides, 
the manure would yield a large revenue for fertilizing purposes. It would thus be 
collected in one place, outside of the city, and the nuisances heretofore suffered, and 
the expense incurred by cleaning out sewers and traps by the slow process of bucket- 
ing would be discontinued. The sale of the fertilizer would more than cover the ex- 
pense of working the machinery of the drainage. Therefore the drainage of the city— 
complete as it would be—would not be a tax upon the property of Washington. By 
the capacious basin and the pumping machinery, all floods and freshets could be fully 
and readily controlled. In times of floods both water-wheels could be worked. Thus, 
the freshets would dispose of themselves. One of the water-wheels, intended es- 
pecially for freshets, would be of great capacity, and the pumps attached to it would 
be correspondingly powerful. By keeping the basin pumped out, it would form a re- 
ceptacle tor millions of gallons of water. This would afford a margin to the pumps 
in times of freshets. In a word, a portion of a freshet could be practically pumped 
out before its occurrence; that is, the receptacle formed for it would be equivalent to 
this: The basin kept low would be synonymous to lowering the Potomac, so far as 
the drainage of the city is concerned; and an achievement many times greater than 
the raising of Pennsylvania avenue and all the low sections of the city, both in North 
and South Washington, would be accomplished, and at less than one eighth of one 
per cent, of the expense; and the drainage of the city would be perfected for all time. 
The tides and the freshets would be fully controlled, and their hurtful consequences— 
the driving of inexpressibly loathsome matter into many of the stores, residences, and 
streets, contaminating the atmosphere of the entire city—would not longer be felt.” 11 
We next invite attention to the suggestion that some modification of the 
plan proposed by Lieut.-Col. Geo. W. Hughes, in 1851, for supplying Wash- 
ington with water for general purposes may be made available for effect- 
ing the desirable improvement of our sewerage. That plan was “to 
erect a dam across Rock Creek at a point near the southern boundary of Mr. 
Clagget’s farm, * * * "20 feet high, so arranged as to draw off the 
water five feet below the crest of the dam, and to conduct it through an 
arched oval culvert of three by four feet interior diameter on a slope of one 
foot to the mile. * * * to a receiving reservoir on Meridian Hill.” 
The details of this plan may be found in a report from the Secretary of 
War, which was referred by the Senate to the Committee on the District of 
Columbia on the '27 th of January, 1851. 
In this connection it is proper to invite particular attention to the plan 
outlined by Dr. Yerdi, as follows, in his last Report as President of this 
Board : 
“To cure this terrible defect the construction of an intercepting sewer has become 
indispensable. This sewer should be of proper proportions and strength, and com- 
mence in the neighborhood of Twenty-fourth street N. W., gradually descending 
eastward to such a point near the Navy-yard as is practicable. If possible, it should 
cross the stream at a point near Uniontown, whence it should be pumped into a 
canal leading four or five miles away from the city. 
“ A work of this character would forever relieve the Capital from any danger from 
that source. 
“ This is the general idea of the intercepting sewer needed, but it may be modified 
by plans of more practical character and probably of less expensive proportions. 
11 At any rate, let our sewers be disconnected from the Potomac, except as to the 
emptying of their contents, and one of our greatest nuisances will be removed. 
“ This great work might be considered in connection with proposed plans of im- 
proving our water frontage, and the reclaiming of the many acres of marshy lands. 
One side of the sea-wall proposed to confine the flow of water of the Potomac on the 
north side of the river might be used as one side of the proposed sewer, thus greatly 
reducing the expense. 
“ I know that this proposition may startle the economist on account of the expense, 
but other governments have done no less for their capitals; nay, they have done an 
hundred fold more.” 
In reviewing the various plans, of which we have collated the outlines, 
we feel bound to accept the opinion of Lieut. Hoxie as to the plan of Major 
Randolph. That plan appears to us feasible ; and we agree with Lieut. 
Hoxie that it will accomplish all that it proposes. But does it propose 
enough ? 
As a measure for immediate relief, it seems to have great merit, and it 
may be made a part of a judicious plan for permanent relief; but we cannot 
think that it alone can give the full and permanent relief that is so much 
to be desired. Probably a combination of it, or of some part of it, with 
some modification of the plan proposed in 1851 by Lieut.-Col. Hughes, as 
already indicated, may accomplish all that is to be desired. 
It may be, also, that a combination of some such modification with Dr. 
Verdi’s plan may be competent to effect the desirable improvement of our 
sewerage. 
But we can hardly feel warranted in saying anything which could be 
fairly taken as an indication that we are entirely satisfied that any one of 
the plans to which we have respectfully invited your attention leaves nothing 
to be desired. 
It seems to us that, sooner or later, a comprehensive plan must be adopted ; 
and we respectfully and earnestly suggest that nothing should be done at 
present which can be reasonably expected either to greatly delay, or to ren- 
der materially more difficult, or to make materially more expensive, such a 
comprehensive plan as may be found to be dictated by a wise consideration 
of our permanent interests in point of health and comfort.