The Sewerage of Geneva, N. Y 
 
 \ 
 
 J, JAMES R. CROES, 
 Civil Engineer, 
 
 No. 63 Bleecker Street, 
 
 New York, 
 
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The Sewerage of Geneva, N. Y. 
 
 REPORTS 
 
 TO THE 
 
 Board of Trustees of the Village 
 
 GENEVA, N. Y. 
 
 • i » 7 
 
 THE COMMITTEE OF CITIZENS 
 
 AND 
 
 J. JAMES R. CROES, 
 
 M. Am. Soc. C.E. 
 
 JANUARY ist, 1884. 
 

 New York: 
 
 The Sanitary Engineer Press 
 140 William Street. 
 
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 The Sewerage of Geneva, N. Y. 
 
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 To the Honorable the Board of Trustees of the Village of Geneva : 
 
 At the Tax Meeting held May 15, 1883, the following resolution, 
 offered by A. L. Chew, Esq., was adopted : 
 
 *Whereas, It is desirable in providing sewerage for the Village of Geneva, that 
 for efficiency and economy in construction it be done in conformity to intelligently 
 devised plans and specifications ; therefore, 
 
 Resolved , That it be referred to a committee of five citizens, tax-payers of the 
 village, to consist of F. O. Mason, Hamilton L. Smith, S. H. Parker, Peter Rich¬ 
 ards and P. N. Nicholas, to devise such plans and specifications, and report the 
 same for approval to the Board of Trustees of the village ; and such committee is 
 empowered to employ a competent sanitary engineer and a competent aid and 
 draughtsman for the purpose ; and that they be also authorized, in case want of power 
 in the Village Charter be found to exist, to apply to the next Legislature for such 
 further grant of power as will enable the Trustees, or any body appointed therefor, to 
 construct from time to time such sewers as may be deemed important to the public 
 health and convenience, and to regulate the connection of private drains therewith ; 
 the expense of carrying this resolution into effect not to exceed five hundred dollars. 
 
 In accordance with the foregoing resolution, the undersigned, 
 members of said Committee, respectfully report : 
 
 That they employed the services of Mr. J. J. R. Croes, Civil 
 Engineer, of the city of New York, in whose skill and knowledge of 
 matters relating to sewerage they had reason to feel confidence, and 
 whose report to the Trustees is herewith presented. 
 
 The Committee also employed Mr. Geo. Root, of Geneva, to 
 take the elevations required by Mr. Croes, who has expressed his 
 approval of this portion of the work. 
 
 The map used in this survey was an old village map, the accu¬ 
 racy of which Mr. Root does not vouch for, but the data furnished are 
 doubtless sufficiently accurate to justify the estimates in the report. 
 
 In submitting the report of Mr. Croes and the accompanying 
 map, the Committee feel that their confidence has not been mis¬ 
 placed ; and that whatever action may be taken in the matter the 
 village will be in possession of a valuable acquisition to the public 
 records. 
 
 
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4 
 
 THE SEWERAGE OF GENEVA, N. Y. 
 
 They respectfully suggest that the report be carefully preserved, 
 and that the map be framed and hung in some safe place where it 
 will be accessible for reference. 
 
 Mr. Croes’ estimates of cost for the sewerage of the entire vil¬ 
 lage are very large, and the Committee fully realize that it would be 
 entirely impracticable to entertain any such outlay at present. Indeed, 
 the report does not contemplate such an expenditure at any one time, 
 and suggests that of the ten districts for which specifications are given, 
 three only will probably require immediate attention. 
 
 The first includes the part of the village from Main Street to 
 the Lake between Hamilton and Lewis Streets. 
 
 The second, between Main and Pulteney from Hamilton to Lewis 
 Streets. 
 
 The third, between Hamilton Street and Mile Point. 
 
 The estimates for these three districts aggregate about $52,000 
 for 37,000 feet of sewers. This, even, is a very large sum, in view of 
 the limited resources and present liabilities of the village, though as an 
 important proportion of the cost would doubtless be assessed upon 
 the frontage along which the sewers are laid, the genet'al tax would 
 not be so largely increased as might at first appear. 
 
 Of these districts the first and second are already partially, 
 although, as the Committee believe, very imperfectly, provided for by 
 the Cemetery Creek sewer, and though this by no means conforms to 
 the plan recommended in this report, as it has been so recently con¬ 
 structed at large cost, it will reasonably be expected that ample time 
 should be given to test its efficiency. 
 
 Mr. Croes’ opinion, however, that natural water-courses should 
 in no case be used for the conveyance of sewage, seems to be sup¬ 
 ported by the best sanitary authorities. To cover the channel so used 
 is simply to hide the evil, not to remedy it. 
 
 The third district named in the report, though last in order, is 
 perhaps at this time the first in importance. No one familiar with 
 this section would question (apart from any considerations of comfort 
 or convenience) that it cannot be left in its present condition without 
 peril to the public health. Indeed, the Board of Health have, within a 
 few months, notified all residents draining to the open ditch between 
 Pulteney and Main Streets, to cut off their connections, “ as its use 
 for sewerage purposes has been declared a nuisance detrimental to the 
 public health ”—an order which cannot properly be enforced in the 
 absence of any other provision for this drainage. 
 
 The report suggests three methods for the sewerage of this 
 
THE SEWERAGE OF GENEVA, N. Y. 
 
 5 
 
 district, and estimates the cost, including the preparation of the land 
 for irrigation, at about $17,000. 
 
 But as the east side of Main Street has the advantage of drain¬ 
 ing to the Lake, it could perhaps be safely left for the present, and a 
 sewer simply laid through Pulteney Street to the Mile Point ravine, 
 taking the entire drainage of the village flowing south. 
 
 Mr. Croes approves of this suggestion, and submits a supplemen¬ 
 tary plan in conformity therewith. His estimate for the work, exclu¬ 
 sive of irrigation, is $5,760 ; and the Committee feel authorized to 
 state that his estimates throughout are intended to be over rather than 
 under the probable cost. 
 
 As a large amount of bonds issued for cemetery and railroad pur¬ 
 poses will be paid off within the next two years, it may reasonably be 
 hoped that this section of this district at least could be prudently 
 undertaken. 
 
 In the opinion of the Committee there is an imperative neces¬ 
 sity for this sewer, and its construction cannot safely be delayed. 
 
 In regard to the other two districts (Nos. 1 and 2) named in the 
 report as requiring immediate attention : aside from the question of 
 relative importance and the partial relief afforded by the Cemetery 
 Creek sewer, they probably could not be so well treated separately, 
 and would in any case involve a much larger expenditure, the estimate 
 for No. 1 being about $19,000, and for No. 2 $16,000. 
 
 The Committee, however, would not be understood as underrating 
 the importance of these districts ; they would prefer that the entire 
 plan should be acted upon at once ; but inasmuch as that is not prac¬ 
 ticable, they would make this beginning in the third district, where 
 immediate relief is needed and would be attended with so moderate 
 an outlay, rather than wait indefinitely to do more ; and they would 
 respectfully submit this recommendation to the impartial consideration 
 of the Trustees and tax-payers of the village. For the disposal of the 
 sewage of district No. 3, the report recommends sub-surface irrigation 
 at Mile Point, for which the land would seem admirably adapted. 
 This method has been adopted with apparent success in many 
 European cities and in several places in our own country, and appears 
 to be steadily growing in favor. Certainly the advantage of protect¬ 
 ing the Lake to this extent from further pollution alone entitles the 
 plan to favorable consideration. Mr. Croes’ estimate of the cost of 
 preparing the land for this purpose is $3,000. 
 
 And in this connection the Committee would call attention to 
 the suggestion in the report, that for the sewage flowing north, if it 
 must be discharged into the Lake, only one outlet should be 
 
6 
 
 THE SEWERAGE OF GENEVA, N. Y. 
 
 provided, and that this should be located “ where the slight current of 
 the Lake will carry it away from the town and not allow it to remain 
 stagnant within the breakwater.” 
 
 The Committee entirely coincide with the opinion expressed in 
 the report, that whatever is undertaken, whether in whole or in part, 
 to carry out this or any other plan for the sewerage of the village, 
 should be under the direction of a competent engineer ; and the esti¬ 
 mates given in the report are intended to cover the expense of such 
 supervision. 
 
 They would also urge the importance of interdicting private 
 connections with the mains, except by official permit and prescribed 
 methods. 
 
 The report provides for the use of automatic flush tanks for 
 cleansing the sewers, and Mr. Croes estimates that 5,000 gallons a 
 day, were the entire system in operation, would be ample for this 
 purpose. Very little water seems requisite under this “ separate sys¬ 
 tem and in the town of Nahant, Massachusetts, where it has been 
 adopted, and which has no public water supply, the pipes are flushed 
 through the manholes with salt water supplied by the town water cart; 
 and Mr. Bowditch, sanitary engineer, reports that this primitive method 
 has been thus far so successful and has so seldom to be applied that 
 it is quite possible the special flush tanks may be omitted entirely. 
 
 The ordinary house supply is thought sufficient for private drains, 
 and it will be noticed that the report deprecates even the discharge of 
 rain water from the roof into the sewers, except under rigid restrictions. 
 
 But whatever may be thought of the public water supply with 
 reference to sewerage, the two systems are so intimately related 
 that the Committee would submit whether they should not be under 
 one ownership and control. It would seem that the White Springs 
 should be a source of profit rather than a burden to the village, and 
 that a negotiation from year to year with a private company for the 
 amount of water required for public uses should not be necessary. 
 
 The resolution referred to authorizes the Committee to apply to 
 the Legislature for such grant of power as may be necessary to give 
 effect to their recommendations if adopted. There has been no oppor¬ 
 tunity for action in this matter, and it is still held under consideration. 
 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 
 (Signed,) 
 
 F. 0 . Mason, 
 
 . . -> * \ V \ , "'•v" . - - ^ - • \* • • “-V. 
 
 H. L. Smith, 
 
 a. ■ A 
 
 P. Richards, 
 
 „’ ’ •; \ ) -j , v ' ... 
 
 Geneva, January 1, 1884. 
 
 S. H. Parker, 
 
 P. N. Nicholas. 
 
THE SEWERAGE OF GENEVA, N. Y. 
 
 7 
 
 REPORT ON A PLAN OF SEWERAGE 
 
 For the Village of Geneva, N. Y. 
 
 To the Honorable the Board of Trustees of the Village of Geneva, N. Y. 
 
 Gentlemen : 
 
 I have the honor to submit a plan for the sewerage 
 and sewage disposal of the village of Geneva, prepared at your request. 
 
 In considering a plan for sewerage, it is first necessary to deter¬ 
 mine what shall be allowed to enter the sewers. 
 
 In some localities and under some circumstances it is necessary 
 that all the water which falls on the surface of the ground should 
 be carried off. In others, the conformation of the ground is such 
 that no provision is necessary for removing rain water, and it is only 
 requisite to carry off the water fouled by domestic uses, in addition 
 to the animal excreta. 
 
 A perfect system of sewerage is one in which only these foul 
 domestic wastes are admitted to the channels provided for their con¬ 
 veyance, and they are removed, before they have begun to decompose, 
 to some point far enough distant from human habitations to preclude 
 the possibility of their giving offence or producing disease. 
 
 In practice, it is found necessary to provide for the introduction 
 of additional water into sewers designed only to remove house 
 waters, in order to facilitate the prompt removal of the foul matter 
 and to cleanse the sewer channels. It is also found that even where 
 
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 an entire exclusion of rain water from the sewers is aimed at, if no 
 separate provision is made for carrying off rain water from the roofs 
 of houses, some of it will be carried into the sewers in spite of the 
 most stringent prohibitory ordinances. 
 
 The sewers must, therefore, in any case, be made somewhat 
 larger than is necessary for the simple removal of house wastes, and 
 the amount of excess over this minimum size is to be determined 
 in every locality by the conditions existing there. 
 
 In a street, the dwellings on which are detached and are sur¬ 
 rounded by open grounds, the sewer need not be proportioned to 
 carry off more than the house discharge at the time of greatest 
 flow, when running half full. ‘If a householder desires to carry off 
 
8 
 
 THE SEWERAGE OF GENEVA, N. Y. 
 
 the rain water from the roof in the sewer, he should be required to 
 provide a cistern of sufficient capacity to hold three inches of rainfall 
 on his roof, furnished either with an automatic flush tank, which will 
 discharge the water collected in the cistern, in periodical flushes into 
 the sewer, or, if there is no flush tank, the outlet from the tank to the 
 sewer should be so small that it will take two days to empty the cistern. 
 
 In large, closely built towns, it becomes necessary to provide 
 underground channels for removing the rain water which falls on 
 the streets and houses some distance from the natural water-courses, 
 and in such cases, storm water may be properly admitted to the 
 sewers, but in general and as a matter of principle, sewers intended 
 for the removal of fouled waters from dwellings should be restricted 
 absolutely to conveying them alone, as quickly as possible, to a point 
 far distant from all residences. 
 
 In the case of the village of Geneva, which was settled nearly 
 one hundred years ago, I do not understand that any inconvenience 
 has been experienced from permitting rain water to flow in the 
 streets and into the natural water-courses which traverse the village 
 and empty into Seneca Lake. The filthiness in and the stench arising 
 from those water-courses, are caused by their having been used to 
 carry off foul matters which never should be permitted to enter any 
 natural stream, whether covered or open. 
 
 It is proper that these water-courses should be retained for carry¬ 
 ing off the natural flow of the territory they drain, and the work which 
 has been done on the straightening and arching of Cemetery Creek 
 and the stream which flows from North Street across the blocks to 
 Exchange Street, at the New York Central Railroad, are steps in the 
 right direction ; but every kind of filth and domestic waste waters 
 should be carefully excluded from these channels, for the reason that 
 any natural water-course should be kept as a drain, into which the 
 water from the ground can percolate ; while a sewer must be made 
 water-tight to keep the filth from leaking out into the surrounding soil. 
 
 Castle Creek is another natural water-course of considerable 
 importance, which flows through the centre of the blocks and ought 
 to be kept free from all pollution by excremental matter and house 
 wastes. Between Castle Street, where the creek crosses it, and Main 
 Street, this stream occupies the only route by which the drainage of 
 a large district west of the ridge which runs parallel to the Lake can 
 be brought to the Lake without deep cutting. It would .be advisable 
 to acquire a strip of land along its course and wall up the channel 
 and lay, either under or along side of it, a pipe sewer to carry off 
 the sewage from the district along the western part of Castle Street. 
 
THE SEWERAGE OF GENEVA, N. Y. 
 
 9 
 
 East of Main Street the sewer can very well be placed in the 
 street, but the stream channel should still be continued in or near 
 its natural course to the Lake. 
 
 The small stream which passes through the blocks north of 
 Castle Creek, may also be preserved as a water-course. 
 
 . At the southerly end of the village, the natural drainage is to the 
 south, by two streams which flow through ravines separated for 
 some distance by high ridges parallel to the Lake shore, but uniting 
 at Mile Point and emptying into the Lake there. The most westerly 
 of these streams passes through a region where the population is 
 scanty at present, and afterward through the Cemetery. 
 
 I would advise that a strip of land along its course be acquired by 
 the village, and the stream straightened where necessary and kept clean. 
 
 If the population should grow in that direction, it maybe necessary, 
 eventually, to arch it over, but this will probably not be needed for 
 some time. It would be well, however, to acquire the land soon, and as 
 soon as it becomes needed it will be well to lay a sewer along the course 
 of the stream to Mile Point, independent of the water-course itself. 
 
 It will be seen that by its topography the village is divided natur¬ 
 ally into two main districts, the sewage of which must be discharged 
 in different directions. 
 
 The territory north of Hamilton Street all drains to the north 
 and west, and has two or three natural outlets. 
 
 If the sewage is to be discharged into the Lake it is very desirable 
 that only one outlet should be provided for all the sewage from 
 north of Hamilton Street, and that the outlet should be where the 
 slight current of the Lake will carry it away from the town and not 
 allow it to remain stagnant inside of the breakwaters. 
 
 It is practicable to carry all this sewage to one outlet at the 
 mouth of Marsh Creek. 
 
 The territory lying south of a line drawn across the village near 
 Hamilton Street has its natural outlet at Mile Point Creek, at the 
 south end of the village. 
 
 The peculiar topography of this section makes the arrangement 
 of its sewers a difficult problem to solve satisfactorily. 
 
 Main Street, on which a majority of the dwellings front, lies on 
 the summit of a narrow ridge, on each side of which the ground 
 falls off rapidly, so that the basements and cellars of the houses, 
 which are set back from the street, are so far below the level of the 
 street that a sewer in Main Street, which would be low enough to 
 drain them, would necessarily be put very deep, probably 14 to 16 
 feet below the surface. 
 
IO 
 
 THE SEWERAGE OF GENEVA, N.Y. 
 
 On the east side, the slope to the Lake is steep, the bank is irreg¬ 
 ular in its contour, and for the most part thickly wooded. 
 
 At its base, along the Lake shore, a railroad runs. A sewer 
 taking the drainage from the rear of the houses, would have to be 
 built entirely on private property along this bank, and, from a hasty 
 examination, I judge that it would either run over very irregular 
 ground, requiring some heavy work in cuttings and embankments, 
 or else follow a very crooked line. In any case, it could not be con¬ 
 structed without the consent of all the property owners, or the con¬ 
 demnation of a strip of land by the village. If it were built along 
 the line of the railroad, at the foot of the hill, the right of way would 
 have to be purchased or condemned, and the house drains would be 
 long and laid over rough ground. 
 
 On the west side of Main Street the ground slopes westward to 
 the ravine between Main and Pulteney Streets, and if there were no 
 sewer in Main Street, it would be necessary to acquire a strip of land 
 and lay the sewer across the lots, in that ravine which is so deep 
 as to prevent the sewage from most of the Main Street houses from 
 being carried through to the Pulteney Street sewer. 
 
 The additional length of house drains required by this method 
 of drainage would go far to compensate for the greater cost of putting 
 the sewer in Main Street at the necessary depth. 
 
 Any estimates made without exact surveys of the ground must be 
 only approximate, but they can be made with sufficient accuracy to give a 
 fair comparison of the cost of the several possible methods, as follows:* 
 
 First .—Estimated cost of sewer in Main Street, laid 16 feet be¬ 
 low the surface, with a house connection 80 feet long, 
 
 every 200 feet on each side. $9*385 
 
 Second .—Estimated cost of sewer along railroad for the houses 
 on the east side of Main Street, and sewer between Main 
 and Pulteney Streets for the houses on the west side of 
 Main Street, from Hamilton to Jay Streets, with house con¬ 
 nections complete, the sewers being 5 feet below the surface. 1 o, 145 
 Third .—Estimated cost of sewer about 100 feet east of Main 
 Street, through private property on the hill side, the 
 houses on the west side of Main Street, for 1,000 feet 
 south of Hamilton Street, draining to the sewer in Pul¬ 
 teney Street, and for the remainder of the distance drain¬ 
 ing to a sewer in the ravine between Main and Pulteney 
 Streets, from near St. Clair Street to Jay Street. ...~ 9,113 
 
 * The estimates of the cost are given in detail in the report filed with the 
 Trustees. 
 
THE SEWERAGE OF GENEVA, N. Y. i; 
 
 As these three plans differ so little in cost, and the second and 
 third require an additional expenditure for right of way, I have laid 
 down on thb map the one which appears simplest and least likely to en¬ 
 counter any obstacles from legal complications, namely, the sewer 
 through Main Street, with the houses on each side draining directly 
 into it. 
 
 It has been suggested to me that the dwellings on the east side 
 of Main Street might continue to drain into the Lake, as at present. 
 Leaving them out of consideration, the third plan above mentioned, 
 as shown by broken lines on the map, will be much the cheapest for 
 this district. 
 
 This location maybe considered subject to change, if more exact 
 detailed estimates, based on surveys and a canvass of the wishes of 
 the property owners as to right of way through their land for a public 
 sewer, should show another plan to be less expensive. 
 
 I do not think it would be proper to discharge any sewage into 
 the Lake along the village front, between Mile Point Creek and Marsh 
 Creek. 
 
 The sewage discharged from the southern district, at Mile Point 
 Creek, ought not to be allowed to enter the Lake in its crude state. 
 Its volume will never be very great, to be sure, but there is a slight 
 current northward, which might lodge offensive matter along the 
 shore. A favorable site for disposing of it by sub-surface irrigation 
 is found in Mile Point Gully, between Main Street and the S. G. & C. 
 Railroad. 
 
 This method of sewage disposal has been successfully used for 
 some years in this country. The sewage is collected in tight tanks, in 
 which the coarser matters settle, and the liquids are flushed out peri¬ 
 odically into tile drains laid about ten inches below the surface 
 
 • ' • - - —: f • ' 
 
 of the ground. These drains are laid with open joints, and on very 
 slight grades. It is found that when the soil under them is thoroughly 
 underdrained by other tile drains, emptying into a natural water¬ 
 course, and the flushing is performed at regular intervals, the soil 
 takes up all the impurities, grass grows luxuriantly over the irrigated 
 area, and the effluent water from the drains is pure. There is suffi¬ 
 cient area of unoccupied land in the Mile Point Gully to dispose of 
 the sewage of a larger population than is likely to occupy the southern 
 section of the village, and no nuisance or offence of any kind can 
 follow the adoption of this system of disposal. 
 
 This system has been successfully applied at Cumberland Mills, 
 in Maine, at Lenox, in Massachusetts, at Bryn Mawr, in Pennsylvania, 
 and other places, by Mr. George E. Waring and other engineers. 
 
12 
 
 THE SEWERAGE OF GENEVA, N. Y. 
 
 For disposal of the sewage from the village north of Hamilton 
 Street, some other method must be adopted. It does not appear to 
 me to be necessary to take any measures for purifying this sewage. 
 
 I do not see that any harm can be done by discharging it into the 
 Lake east of the canal basins, about the mouth of Marsh Creek. 
 
 Its volume will not be so great as to cause a nuisance along the 
 Seneca River. Being discharged fresh into the Lake it will probably 
 be consumed by fishes before the water it has entered will have reached 
 the river. If, at some future time, it should prove to be a nuisance, 
 the outlet sewer could be continued eastwardly to some land suitable 
 for the purpose, and the sewage pumped up on the land and disposed 
 of by irrigation. It is very probable that the day is far distant when 
 this treatment of the sewage will be required. 
 
 There is a small section east of Exchange Street, from the N. Y. 
 C. R.R. to North Street, which lies so low in the swamp bordering 
 Marsh Creek that it cannot be sewered without either raising the 
 grades of the streets several feet or pumping up the sewage. 
 
 It would probably be easiest to raise the streets, and bring 
 the houses and cellars out of the swamp land. 
 
 The map submitted herewith is prepared from the village map, 
 and elevations of the ground taken by Mr. G. Root, C. E., and shows 
 the elevations of the street surface, and of the inside bottom of the 
 sewers proposed, and the gradients and sizes of all sewers projected. 
 
 The sewers are proportioned to convey, when running half full, 
 the house sewage at the hour of greatest discharge. The smallest 
 sewer used is a 6-inch pipe, that being the least size which experience 
 shows to be safe to insure against stoppage by the matters which 
 will get into a sewer in spite of regulations and precautions. The 
 size is increased at the point where a 6-inch pipe is not capable of 
 conveying, when half full, an amount of sewage equal to an hourly flow 
 of 150 gallons for each 100 feet of street sewered, and this ratio is 
 made the basis of all calculations for the sizes of the sewers, up to 
 the 20-inch outlet sewer along Lake Street. 
 
 For all sizes of sewers, up to 20 inches diameter, the best quality 
 of vitrified earthenware pipe should be used, laid true to line and 
 grade, with the joints made perfectly water-tight with the best Portland 
 cement. Hub and spigot pipe should be used up to 10 inches diame¬ 
 ter, and straight pipe, with collars, for diameters greater than 10 inches. 
 
 Branch pipe for house connections should be put in at the time 
 of laying, so that the main pipe may never be disturbed again. 
 
 Manholes should be put in about 1,000 feet apart on straight 
 lines and at all junctions of branch sewers, and smaller openings 
 
THE SEWERAGE OF GENEVA, N. Y. 
 
 13 
 
 extending to the surface of the street, about 300 feet apart. House 
 connections should be of 4-inch pipe extending from the sewer 
 to the top of the soil-pipe at the roof of the house without a break or 
 trap, to insure ventilation and circulation of air. At every dead end 
 of a sewer there should be means of flushing provided. The best 
 effect, with the least expenditure of water, is obtained by an automatic 
 siphon flush-tank, filled gradually from the water mains and empty¬ 
 ing itself suddenly into the sewer. 
 
 The use of the automatic flushing tank, in this connection, involves 
 the probable payment of a tax of nine cents per foot of sewer affected 
 thereby, as compensation for a patent claimed for the combination. 
 Other arrangements for flushing are practicable, but they involve 
 more labor and dependence upon the fidelity of laborers employed by 
 the corporation. Which method involves the least risk and actual 
 annual expense, is a question which can only be decided after careful 
 investigation in each case, the difference of cost either way being slight, 
 and the security of flushing regularly, more assured by the automatic 
 tanks. I have made the estimates on the assumption that they will be 
 used. 
 
 Good materials and workmanship are essential, and these can 
 only be obtained by thorough inspection of the work by competent 
 men during its construction. 
 
 Taken in detail, the plan provides that the sewage from Main 
 and Pulteney Streets, south of Hamilton Street, shall be carried to 
 the valley on Jay Street, and thence along the line of the brook 
 to Mile Point Gully where it will be received in a tank and periodi¬ 
 cally flushed into sub-surface drains on ground prepared for the pur¬ 
 pose, either north or south of the brook. 
 
 The sewage from the region west of the hill between Main and 
 Pulteney Streets, from Hamilton to High Street, will be concentrated 
 at the intersection of Pulteney and William Streets, and conveyed in 
 a 16-inch pipe through William Street to Main. 
 
 The cutting at the deepest point on William Street will be 24 feet. 
 This is the only deep cut in this district. The rest of the sewers fol¬ 
 low the surface grades very closely, and are generally nine feet 
 below the street grade. 
 
 It would be practicable to avoid the deep cut in William Street by 
 carrying the sewer along the line of the brook through private prop¬ 
 erty in the middle of the block. The drains from quite a number of 
 houses are now led into the brick sewer recently built along the line, 
 and all the sewage of the district might be carried in it. 
 
 As I have before stated, there are serious objections to this 
 method of converting a natural water-course into a sewer. Besides 
 
14 
 
 THE SEWERAGE OF GENEVA, N. Y. 
 
 the difficulty of making the channel porous to receive drainage 
 and at the same time tight to prevent pollution of the soil by the 
 sewage, the fact must be taken into consideration that the only 
 access to the sewer will be over private property, and that the town 
 cannot compel a property owner to connect with the sewer if the only 
 way he can make such connection is by crossing another person’s land. 
 
 If after due consideration of the sanitary and legal objections to 
 such a course, you should decide that the pecuniary advantages over¬ 
 weighed them, the sewage might be conveyed in the brook Culvert 
 from the corner of William and Pulteney Streets to Exchange Street, 
 where it would turn into the main sewer shown on the plan. 
 
 When the flow of water in the brook was too great for the main 
 sewer to carry it, the surplus would flow into the Lake by an over¬ 
 flow to be provided at Exchange Street. By using the present brook 
 sewer in this way, the size of the sewers on William and Main Streets 
 for 1,300 feet could be reduced from fifteen inches to six inches, and 
 the cutting at the summit on William Street would be nine feet in¬ 
 stead of twenty-four feet. The saving of cost would be about $1,000. 
 
 Resuming the description of the scheme shown on the plan, the 
 sewer will pass through Main Street to Castle Street, receiving other 
 sewers on its way, and pass down Castle Street to Exchange Street. 
 
 At Genesee Street it will be joined by the sewer draining the 
 upper part of Castle Street, beyond Pulteney Street. This sewer 
 it is proposed to bring across the block on the line of the Castle 
 Creek for about 1,000 feet, as before mentioned. To bring it down 
 Castle Street from Pulteney to Main would require a cutting of over 
 30 feet in depth. 
 
 The district north of Lewis Street and west of Genesee Street 
 will be drained down Lewis Street to Exchange Street, where it will 
 meet the sewer of the district between Main and Genesee Streets. 
 
 All the sewers meet on Exchange Street at Lake Street, and are 
 carried by a 20-inch pipe sewer down Lake Street (passing under the 
 Seneca and Cayuga Canal by a siphon of cast-iron pipe), and dis¬ 
 charge into the Lake at Marsh Creek, unless it should be desired to 
 go further from the village, as previously stated, for disposal of the 
 sewage by pumping it on to land for irrigation. 
 
 From the annexed schedule* of sizes of sewers it will be seen 
 that there are 76,040 feet, or 14.4 miles of sewers provided for. 
 
 I have divided these into ten districts, according to what seems 
 the most probable division of the order of the construction of the 
 sewers. 
 
 * Not printed. 
 
THE SEWERAGE OF GENEVA, N. Y. 
 
 15 
 
 The first district includes the main business part of the village 
 from Main Street to the Lake, between Hamilton and Lewis Streets. 
 The sewerage will cost approximately $19,397 for 13,480 feet of 
 sewers. This is the most costly district in proportion to the length 
 of the sewers, owing to its containing the main outfall sewer. 
 
 The second district lies between ,Main and Pulteney Streets, 
 from Hamilton to Lewis Street. The sewage will be concentrated at 
 the corner of Pulteney and William Streets, and carried down William 
 to Main Street. The cost is approximately $16,337 for 13,570 feet 
 of sewers. 
 
 The third district lies on the ridge and drains toward the south. 
 The sewage will be disposed of by sub-surface irrigation in Mile 
 Point Gully. The cost is approximately $16,895 for 10,090 feet of 
 sewers, including the disposal works at Mile Point. The cost of this 
 district can be reduced to $8,760 by omitting the Main Street sewer, 
 as suggested in a previous part of this report. 
 
 The sewerage for these three districts will therefore cost approxi¬ 
 mately $52,629 for 37,140 feet of sewers. 
 
 The seven other districts will require 38,900 feet of sewers, esti¬ 
 mated to cost $44,263, making the aggregate cost of sewering the 
 village completely, $96,892 for 76,040 feet of sewers. 
 
 This amount will not, of course, require to be expended all at 
 once. The first three districts need sewering more than the others. 
 In constructing the sewers for them, the proportional cost will be 
 greater than for the sewers further from the outfall, and the whole 
 burden of the expense ought not to fall on the property which will 
 be directly benefited. 
 
 For instance, the sewers of the first district have to be made 
 large enough to carry the sewage from seven out of the remaining 
 nine districts, and nearly half of these sewers are larger than would 
 be necessary to carry only the sewage from the district itself. The 
 cost is estimated at $19,397, whereas if the capacity were confined to 
 the one district it would be $15,940. 
 
 It would be only equitable, therefore, for the expense to be 
 divided into two parts, one part, representing the cost of the smallest 
 sewer, to be assessed on the frontage along which sewers are laid, 
 and the other to be assessed on all property in the districts which the 
 main sewers will eventually drain. 
 
 If the work is undertaken at all, the first three districts ought 
 to be sewered altogether, both for sanitary and economical reasons. 
 
 If the work is to be done, it should be executed under the super¬ 
 vision of an engineer who has had experience in building such work 
 
[6 
 
 THE SEWERAGE OF GENEVA, N. Y. 
 
 and in dealing with contractors. No guarantee in a contract can 
 supersede the necessity for thorough intelligent oversight and inspec¬ 
 tion during the progress of construction. 
 
 The prices assumed in the estimates are liberal, and are believed 
 to be ample to cover all expenses of surveys, plans, engineering, in¬ 
 spection and contingencies. 
 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 
 63 Bleecker Street, 
 
 New York City, December, 1883. 
 
 J. J. R. CROES, 
 
 Civil Engineer. 
 
 K 
 
 APPROXIMATE ESTIMATE OF COST OF SEWERS. 
 
 District. Length of Sewers. Cost. 
 
 1 .13,480 feet. $19,397 
 
 2 .i 3 , 57 o “ 16,337 
 
 3 .10,090 “ 16,895 
 
 4 . 6,750 “ 8,168 
 
 5 . 5,39° “ 6,039 
 
 6 . 3,97° “ 4,48o 
 
 7 . 2,900 “ 3,228 
 
 8 . 4,3°° “ 4,728 
 
 9 . 8,440 “ 9,346 
 
 10 . 7T5° “ 8,274 
 
 Total.76,040 feet. $96,892 
 
 
I