PUBLIC HEALTH.

Taranaki Daily News, 30 November 1915, Page 8

PUBLIC HEALTH.

HOW 10 DEAL WITH REFUSE. BOROUGH ENGINEER'S REPORT. NEW SCHEME SUGGESTED. At the meeting of the Works Committee of the Borough Council last night the engineer ('Mr. E. 0. Clayton) submitted a report on the collection and disposal of refuse. The report stated: ''For some months past I have been engaged collecting information on the subject, and there can be no question that it is a matter which requires very early 'attention in ,Ne\v Plymouth. Regarding the collection of house and trade refuse, the system, where in force, has now been adopted of making a weekly call in residential areas, and more frequently in the business portion, and from public buildings, hotels, restaurants and large boardinghouses, schools, hospitals, etc. This prevents the vegetable and organic matter having time to decompose and become dangerous. The receptacles for holding the refuse should he impervious, strong, and light, and provided with a lid and tw.o handles. They should be made of galvanized iron, 24 gauge, round in shape, provided with a removable cover, and each receptacle should hold two cubic feet, and not more, The tins should be galvanized after they are made, and not ibefore. Providing, a cover, and the last recommendation re galvanizing are most important items. ''When the system is inaugurated, the collection would be made on certain days in certain areas without fail, and the residents should be expected to place the tin within, say, h feet of the entrance, on that day. The collector? should not have to travel to the back of eacli place to collect it. In whatever areas your Council consider it is advisable that refuse should not be allowed to accumulate, the services of the refuse cart should he availed of. From experience it has been found that when the service of the refuse cart has been at the option of the occupier, the work is a failure, and not more than a third of the householders avail themselves ol its benefit, and considerable expense ir collecting fees and numerous bad debt! are incurred. On tbe other hand, 1h the other method of making a fixet charge per annum on every inhabiter; building within the areas collected from it is successful, and a fee of 7s Oil pel annum (less than 2d per week per build ing) ha? been found amply sufficient tc defray the whole cost of collection ant interest and depreciation on cost ol vehicles, etc. (This was based on 160( buildings.) Further, when the Isittei system of charging was adopted, it wa< found that very few people indeed dii not avail themselves of the services o the cart.

DISPOSAL OP REFUSE. "Having'-,dealt with the collectioa of the refuse it is now necessary to consider the means of disposing of it, in a satisfactory manner. Tliia question lias comparatively recently been solved in England in a manner which is simple, sanitary, economical and effective, by a process wliich converts the refuse into a fertilizer, almost instantaneously, by a machine known as a .."disintegrator," or "patent lightning dust manipulator." The process of transformation from house refuse to manure is, as has been mentioned, almost instantaneous, the machine throws out no dust nor smoke, nor does the process develop any disagreeable odour; hut, on the contrary, whatever disagreeable odour may liave been produced by the refuse ' before treatment, disappears the moment the refuse has passed through the machiiM, and the product is changed into material similar to the sample exhibited, which, you will observe, is absolutely free from any objection, cither to the eye or sense of smell. "For an output of up to ten tons a day of, say, 10 hours, the cost of a machine would be £3Bf, and the .cost of preparing site, electric motor, building, ways of approach and exit should not exceed £350, a total of £737, unless the building was constructed of permanent materials. Certain articles which are too large to enter the mouth of the machine, such as old mattresses, baskets, mats, linoleums, etc., are generally burnt in a small furnace. A small reverberator? furnace, very effective for this purpose, can be installed for about £4O, erected complete, and the ashes would form a valuable addition to the manure, owing to the potash they contain. "From the information which I have been able to gather, and judging by the experiences of those who have had to deal with the system, it appears to me to be a very great improvement on any present method of dealing with refuse, and its sanitary and economical advantages appear to speak for themselves, and I believe your council would be warranted in seriously considering the advantages of installing this method of dealing with the refuse." Consideration of the report was postponed.