IN FAVOUR OF THE MOTOR GULLY EMPTIER.
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A Type of Vehicle which Has Proved Its Efficiency and Economy in Municipal Service. What St. Pancras Hopes to Save by the Use of Such Machines.
ONE of the types of motor vehicle which has completely justified itself in municipal service is the gully emptier, which has given positive proof to enterprising local authorities who have adopted such plant of its ability to perform economically and hygienically work which was previously undertaken by horsed vehicles. If endorsement, of the efficiency of the 'modern motor gully emptier is needed it is to be found in a report made by Mr. E. W. Swinstead, the borough engineer to the St. Pancras Borough Council.
In" his .recent report Mr. Swinstead states that he has carefully considered the question of utilizing vacuum gully emptiers in place of the present method of dealing with golly slop, and obtained returns from 27 boroughs, being 26 metropolitan boroughs and the adjoining borough of Hornsey. He finds that 12 boroughs already use vacuum gully emptiers and reply that the machines are satisfactory in working, and it also appears to be the general opinion that there is a considerable saving by the use of such machines.
From inquiries the borough ,engineer finds that the provincial cities and towns have many gully emptiers in use, and quite apart from economy, the mechanical means of emptying gullies with a proper re-sealing of them by filling with fresh water must have a beneficial influence upon the health of the district.
The council's contracts for removal and disposal of slop at present include the provision of gully vans to attend the council's gullymen and to dispose of the slop removed from the gullies, the contractors supplying a. total-of 11 horses, vans and drivers per day for this purpose.
The method of disposal of the slop from the gullies should vacuum gully emptiers be purchased requires 'consideration, for the slop, is of a very liquid nature, and before discharging into barge or railway truck requires to be allowed to settle or to be admixed with dry road sweepings and manure, and it does not appear advisable at present that the council should undertake a separate disposal of the gully slop.
Mr. Swinstead suggests that the contract for slopping of wards, for which tendeis.will be asked in January next, should be so amended as to provide that the quotation for each ward covers the disposal of the slop after being discharged from the vacuum emptier at the contractors' wharf or place of disposal, with an alternative price should the council take away from the contractors for cleansing the disposal of the gully slop; in either case the contractors in
total will be saved and should give credit for the cost of 11 gully vans, horses and men per day.. -Uponconsideration of the tenders received the council could then decide whether to make a single contract for the disposal of the slop from the • whole borough, or include the disposal of same in the contract, for each ward.
The First cost of a gully emptier is about £1,050, and a statement has been prepared showing that the running cost for two emptiers should be about £1,723 per annum, including 10 per cent. depreciation and 5 -per cent, interest on capital outlay, with a contra . cost for the present system of £1,625 for gullymen's wages, but in addition to the wages the conned] is paying for 11 vans daily which, working about 3,300 days per annum at 14s. per day, equals £2,100 included in tlie present contracts for slopping.
In the statement showing the present and future cost in detail, the borough engineer has only provided for the abolition of 10 gully vans, as it will probably be necessary to retain, one gully van to work the Courts and alleys where it is not possible for a motor vacuum, gully emptier to enter. It may be that the prices received for slopping the wards under the new contracts will not show a saving of £2,11:10 over the present. con. tracts, for he is of opinion that the low prices this year will not be realizable in the ensuing year, but the cost, of the gully vans to the contractor is estimated at 14s. per day, because the present price under contract for horse, van and man is 14s. 9d. per day.
Mr. Swinstead goes on to say that there are several types of gully emptier on the market, both petrol and steam driven, with single or combined tanks and separate tanks. He does not favour the single tank because the method is to inject into the water in the tank the slop extracted, charging tlio gully with water: which becomes increasingly impure as the wagon is loaded with slop. He favours the steam-driven vehicle in preference to the petrol vehicle for economy of working with such a heavy load as is carried on the vehicles.
• The.suin of £2,100 has been provided in the current estimates to purchase two vacuum gully emptiers, Mr. Swinstead's estimates are as follow:—
Yearly working costs of steam vacuum gully emptier.
The works committee of the council, having considered the report, recommends the amendment of the council's forin of contracts for cleansing work which come into operation on April 1st, 1924, in order to obtain alternative tenders, and that the highways committee be authorized to purchase two vacuum gully emptiers of a type which it considers most satisfactory for the council's work.