Sewer History: Photos and Graphics

Flush tanks, gates and other flushing mechanisms (1)
(Click on thumbnails to enlarge image)

In the early years of sewer design in the United States, it was recognized that sewers needed flushing, especially where certain reaches of sewer had an unfavorable combination of low slope and low tributary sewage flow. Flush tank mechanisms were generally installed in manholes, primarily at the upstream terminal ends of sewage mains, to facilitate the periodic flushing of the downstream mains. The public potable water system was usually the source of the water, although tide water was sometimes used.

In flush tanks, a relatively large volume of water was accumulated and then released into the immediately down-gradient sewer main. Flush tanks were of both the automatic and manually-operated types. As seen below, there were many flush tank designs and/or mechanisms, including the Van Vranken, the Rhoads-Williams, and the Miller flush tanks.

See Tracking Down the Roots of Our Sanitary Sewers for more information.


For Reference	See Sanitary Engineering by Baldwin Latham (1884) for a number of illustrations of flushing devices. Posted under Articles/Design - Before 1900
Manual flushing devices
	A Belgian system of sewer flushing, 1897. A wagon discharged water from a tank into the manhole and down the sewer. Such tanks of water were very heavy to maneuver, so the wagon was often driven to the manhole empty, then filled with a fire hose from a nearby hydrant. Source: "Apparatus for Flushing Small Sewers," Engineering News and American Railway Journal, Volume XXXVII, No. 17 (29 April 1897), p. 262.
	Flush tank mechanism from Tucson, Arizona, circa 1900-1925. This device required a crew to trigger the flush. In the Tucson metropolitan area system, over 200 flush tanks (of varying design) were installed. All are now out of service, and the involved water connections physically cut off. Source: Illustration by Jan McDonald, Pima County Wastewater Management Department, Tucson, Arizona.
	Flush tank mechanism from Tucson, Arizona, circa 1900-1925. The illustration above shows how this mechanism functioned. Source: The public sanitary sewage conveyance system serving the greater Tucson, Arizona, metropolitan area.
Flushing with tide water
	Flushing inlet designed by George E. Waring, Jr., for San Diego, California, using tide water, 1891. Source: George E. Waring, Jr., "Chapter XVI: The Sewerage of San Diego," Sewerage and Land-Drainage, 3rd Edition (New York: D. Van Nostrand Co., 1891), p. 144.
	The Tiber Creek Sewer Flush Gates, Washington, D.C., 1894. Tiber Creek flowed to the Potomac River. As the city developed, the creek was structurally covered and became a "sewer." The Potomac is affected by tides; when the tide is high, the velocity in the sewer was not good. Flush gates were installed upstream to back up and store flush water in the creek. When the tide was low in the Potomac, the flush gates were opened, sending a surge of water down through the sewer to flush away settled solids to the Potomac. Source: "The Tiber Creek Sewer Flush Gates, Washington, D.C.," Engineering News and American Railway Journal, 8 February 1894.
	Early survey of Washington, D.C., showing Tiber Creek (converted into a sewer over the years as the city developed - see above). Note the different spelling for the Potomac River. Date unknown. Source: J. A. Drake and J. R. Orndorff, From Mill Wheel to Plowshare, (Cedar Rapids, IA: The Torch Press, 1938).
Field-Waring Flush Tank, Field's Flushing Cistern
	Roger Field's improved flush tank, 1878. Source: "Improved Flush Tank," The Manufacturer and Builder, Volume 10, Issue 12 (Dec. 1878), p. 280. Courtesy of The Making of America Digital Collection, Cornell University Library.
	Field's Flushing Cistern, 1879. Source: "Flush Tanks," The Manufacturer and Builder, Volume 11, Issue 8 (Aug. 1879), p. 187. Courtesy of The Making of America Digital Collection, Cornell University Library.
	Roger Field's self-acting sewer flushing chamber, 1896. Source: "English Sewer Flushing Practice," Engineering News and American Railway Journal, Volume XXXV, No. 21 (21 May 1896), pp. 343-344.
	The Field-Waring Tank, a siphon flush-tank invented by Mr. Field and improved by Col. Waring, circa 1899. Source: H. N. Ogden, "Chapter XVII: Flushing)," Sewer Design (New York: John Wiley & Sons, London: Chapman & Hall, Limited, 1899), p. 198.
	Same as illustration above, shown for link to separate article. Cady Staley and Geo. S. Pierson, "Chapter X: Flushing and Ventilation," The Separate System of Sewerage, Its Theory and Construction, Third Edition (New York: D. Van Nostrand, Co., 1899), p. 216.