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29
These were gradually constructed, the first being in use during the last
week in July, and all the thirteen before the end of September. The result
was that while from the commencement of the year up to the week ending
25th July the average weekly quantity of sludge sent to sea had been about
7,000 tons, that from the week ending 1st August up to the week ending
15th September the average weekly output of sludge had risen to 20,000 tons.
They further state that there can, therefore, be no doubt that were this
system adopted in its entirely, both at Barking and Crossness, an effluent
would be produced practically free from suspended matter.
Looking to the future they estimate that the quantity of sludge to be
removed when both Barking and Crossness are in full working order will not
be less than 30,000 to 35,000 tons per week, and are of opinion that the fleet
of vessels should be kept up to five—four to be on full work, and one undergoing
repairs or boiler cleaning. Finally, giving carefully calculated figures,
they prove beyond any doubt that to attempt to press and dry the sludge
would be much more costly than throwing it overboard at the mouth of the
Thames, and, further, that there would be a great difficulty in disposing of it
after such treatment.
This Report gives a clear idea of the present position of the works, and
shows that until the beginning of August last, although 20,000 tons of sludge
were being produced weekly at great expense, no less than two-thirds of this
was allowed to flow into the river with the effluent.
It is expected that the works at Crossness will be completed before the
summer of the present year, and that then the full quantity of sludge will be
produced.
It would certainly be absurd and unfair to criticise the working of a scheme
which is not yet completed. And, further, it must be remembered that the
river is full of foul and offensive mud, the result of sewage and sludge already
discharged, and that even if there were a total diversion of all sewage matter
from the river, a considerable time, probably one or two years, must elapse
before this could be entirely removed, and the water resume its normal
condition of purity.
Hence it would seem that before the scheme can in any way be fairly
judged, Londoners must allow the thorough adoption and testing of all the
details, which practically means waiting some years before coming to a decision
on the question.
The present condition is a disgraceful one, and matters can hardly become
worse than they are. There has been, so far, no result from which we are
entitled to predict a final success. There has, up to the present, been no
such improvement of the river since the process has been in partial operation
as to make us sanguine as to the future, when the whole system is in work.
F