Comprehensive atypical/non-gravity sewer system designs
such as the Shone, Berlier, and Liernur systems

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In the late 1800s, a number of designers attempted to develop comprehensive sewer systems to address some of the problems of existing system (odors and flow problems in particular). In Europe, Shone, Berlier and Liernur developed pneumatic systems that were tried in some areas -- Shone's in London, Berlier's in Paris, and Liernur's in Holland. American engineers tackled similar problems, but their designs were not implemented as far as we know. These systems proved costly, and improvements in the gravity collection system finally made them obsolete.

The Shone, Berlier, and Liernur Systems

Samuel M. Gray, Proposed Plan for a Sewerage System, and for the Disposal of the Sewage of the City of Providence (Providence: Providence Press Company, Printers to the City, 1884), Appendix A, pp. 3-116 and Plates I - XVI and XXIII.

Liernur System - see pp. 22-26 and plates V, VI, VII, VIII.

This system, invented by Captain Charles T. Liernur, was primarily used in Holland. It was designed as a "separate" system, with sewage and rainwater disposed of by separated systems. Pneumatic pressure delivered sewage through pipes to a collection station.

Berlier System - see pp. 26-30 and plates IX, X.

This system was tried in Paris in the 1880s to separate sludge and draw it by pneumatic pressure to a collection station.

Shone System - see pp. 30-33 and plates XI, XII.

This system was successfully used in London. It is a "separate" system, with sewage and rainwater disposed of by separated systems. Gravity delivers sewage to district collectors, then pneumatic ejectors raise sewage and deliver it to disposal points.

Table of Contents
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"The Shone Hydro-Pneumatic System of Sewerage," The Manufacturer and Builder, Volume 19, Issue 5 (May 1887), pp. 104-105. Courtesy of The Making of America Digital Collection, Cornell University Library.

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"The Reconstruction of the Main Drainage System of the Houses of Parliament, London," The Sanitary Engineer and Construction Record, Volume 15, Number 18 (April 2, 1887), pp. 456-458. See Photos/Graphics also for a higher-resolution version of the graphic on page 456.

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Urban H. Broughton, "The Shone Hydro-Pneumatic System of Sewerage," Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineers, Volume XXVII (December 1892), pp. 659-674.

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Cady Staley and Geo. S. Pierson, The Separate System of Sewerage, Its Theory and Construction, Third Edition (New York: D. Van Nostrand, Co., 1899), pp. 17-38.

Chapter I: "Introduction" (pp. 17-38). See pp. 35-37.
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For other chapters, see Design before 1900.

Colonel E. C. S. Moore, "Introduction, Chapter I, Chapter II, Chapter III," Sanitary Engineering, Volume I, 3rd Edition revised by E. J. Silcock (Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Company, 1909), pp. 1-69.

Shone System - see pp. 54-62.
Liernur System - see pp. 67-69.

Chapter III: "Sewage Lifting" (pp. 52-69)
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For other chapters, see Design - 1900 and later.
U.S. Patents for Shone and Liernur

Patent for apparatus for removing sewage, 1880. Patented by I. Shone on December 28, 1886. U.S. Patent No. 235,910.

Source: United States Patent and Trademark Office at http://www.uspto.gov. Thanks to Tom Bates for finding and contributing this patent.

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Patent for pneumatic sewerage system, 1892. Patented by C. T. Liernur on September 13, 1892. U.S. Patent No. 482,439

Source: United States Patent and Trademark Office at http://www.uspto.gov. Thanks to Tom Bates for finding and contributing this patent.

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Patents for Other Systems

Patent for sewer design, 1882. Patented by J. Comstock and T. E. Jefferson on July 11,1882. U.S. Patent No. 261,080.

This complex system concentrated on the problems of odor control.

Source: United States Patent and Trademark Office at http://www.uspto.gov. Thanks to Tom Bates for finding and contributing this patent.

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Patent for sewer design, 1888. Patented by W. A. Pitt on May 1, 1888. U.S. Patent No. 382,188.

The intent of W. A. Pitt's patent was to provide one alternative way to better serve sewer customers in low, flatter areas; and in doing so, save some of the limited vertical fall available (for a gravity system) and reduce potential odors (via the use of compressed air and solids separation). Ultimately, the sewage is delivered to an area gravity collector sewer.

Source: United States Patent and Trademark Office at http://www.uspto.gov. Thanks to Tom Bates for finding and contributing this patent.

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Patent for sewer design, 1888. Patented by A. Le Marquand on February 7, 1888. U.S. Patent No. 377,681.

Source: United States Patent and Trademark Office at http://www.uspto.gov. Thanks to Tom Bates for finding and contributing this patent.

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