Intercepting arrangement of the Fourth Ave. main sewer in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 1893.

Sewage and factory wastes were discharged into Milwaukee's streams and rivers in the 1870s, leading to disease and environmental degradation. This intercepting sewer was part of the plan implemented in the 1880s to correct the problem. The original designers (1880) were E. S. Chesbrough, Moses Lane and George E. Waring, Jr. The plan was expanded in the 1880s by the author, G. H. Benzenberg.

Source: G. H. Benzenberg, "The Sewerage System of Milwaukee and the Milwaukee River Flushing Works," Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineers, Volume XXX (December 1893), Plate I. Used with permission of ASCE and EWRI.

Sewerage pumping plant in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 1893, showing the pump well, pump, engine, and discharge into the lake. See above for further information.

Source: G. H. Benzenberg, "The Sewerage System of Milwaukee and the Milwaukee River Flushing Works," Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineers, Volume XXX (December 1893), Plate II. Used with permission of ASCE and EWRI.

Milwaukee River flushing works pumping plant in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 1893, showing the engine designed by Mr. Edwin Reynolds and built by the E. P. Allis Company. See above for further information.

Source: G. H. Benzenberg, "The Sewerage System of Milwaukee and the Milwaukee River Flushing Works," Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineers, Volume XXX (December 1893), Plate III. Used with permission of ASCE and EWRI.

Source: W. G. Kirchoffer, "Novel Sewerage System and Sewage Treatment Plant at Mt. Horeb, Wis.," Municipal and County Engineering, Volume LV, No. 2 (August 1918), p. 61.