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READING'S CLEANSING
Page 82
Page 83
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SYSTEM REORGANIZED
0• N.Monday 'next; April l,. a new systein of publit tleansing will be inaugurated ' at Reading,. a 'semi-industrial town some 35 miles 'from London, by,..means of Which the .existing' service will be'much increased at .a , lower cost of operation than formerly. Although .the .figure of R1p,211. for the total cost of the collection . and ,disposal of refuse 'in a borough covering an acreage of 10,000, with 27,000 houses and a population of 99,800 persons, may be considered as moderate, the results for the forthcoming and subsequent financial years are expected to he considerably better.
Special problems of cleansing present themselves to Mr. A. S. Parsons, M.Inst.C.E., Reading Corporation's engineer and surveyor, and to his departmental officials. The county borough incorporates the residential districts of Caversham, Tilehurst and Whitley, which are several miles from the centre of the town, with the result that the average length of haul from the site of refuse collection to the controlled tip is much increased. Indeed, the distance from Tilehurst to the dumping ground is 4i miles in each direction. The average length of haul for the whole borough is 3i miles.
Furthermore, working-class and larger properties . are closely intermingled, a circumstance which complicates the arrangement of cleansing schedules. In the-former grade of district, the houses have no front gardens and refuse bins are placed on the kerbside for collection, whereas in the latter case the scavengers may have to walk 20-75 yds. from the road to gather. a bin. The difficulties in the way of the efficient orgainiation of a relay system
c2S
of refuse collection, under these conditions, an well be imagined.
Perhaps the greatest problems occur in the outlying districts, two or three miles from, the town, where . the " carries " are usually long and where extensive building developments are taking place. It is almost true to say that Reading extends daily. In Caversham and Tilehurst, houses are being erected at the rate of about :7.100 a year, whilst in the borough as a whole, five estates are being developed.
Narrow Courts Create Difficulties.
There are also narrow courts, which are likely to be demolished in a year or two, under a slum;clearance scheme, where Only horsed carts can be employed, but when these properties are removed, the entire system will be mechanized.
The fleet of' refuse collectors comprises 15 S.D. Freighters. Six of these machines have canvas covers, five are of the dustless-loading "type, with treadle-operated metal covers, whilst the remaining four Vehicles .are of the rear-loading pattern,: with Principality moving floors., The. body capacities are of 7, 10 and 15 cubic yds. The largest machines are the rearloaders, a type upon which it is proposed, in the future, to standardize.
House-refuse collection is conducted on the relay system, each house being
visited , twice weekly. Vehicles leave headquarters at 7.30 a.m. and 'loading usually continues Until about 4.15 p,m., the'.niachines being due back at the garage 'at 5 p.m. A driVer and 'mate assist in' loading each vehicle. •
As from Monday. next, the higherclass residential areas will, so far as refuse collection is concerned, be treated differently, from the workingclass districts. In the latter, the relay system will be mairttained and, by reason of the greater possibilities of accurate timing, will be improved, but special vehicle§ will be allocated to the former areas.
Reading, which is reputed to be one of the cleanest towns in the country. can provide some striking statistics of the quantities of refuse carried. In the past municipal year, 15,567 loads of refuse were remoVed, equalling 107,146 cubic yds., or 32,000 tons. Each house produces annually an average of 4 cubic yds. of refuse, of an estimated . weight of 11 ton, whilst each person provides 1.082 cubic yd. of waste material, of a total weight of 7 cwt.'
On an average, the 7-cubic-yd. machines pick up five loads a day, the 10-cubic-yd. collectors, four loads, and the rear-loaders, three-four consignments. In one exceptional instance, a 15-cuhicLyd. vehicle, operating in a thickly populated working-class area, where kerbside collection is the rule, hauls five loads a day. An interesting timing test carried out in connection with a vehicle working in Tilehurst, which is farthest from the tip, showed that the operatives were able to collect 93 bins in 35 minutes.
The mileage statistics in relation to the S.D. Freighters are also of interest. During the week ended March 9 these machines. covered a total of 1,907.5 miles, which is equivalent to ::147. miles a day for the fleet, or 26.7 miles per vehicle per day.
Shop refuse is collected at least twice weekly, one free bin being allowed on each occasion. Traders are charged 6d. for the clearing of each additional bin. Refuse from the open-air market is collected every Saturday night.
The reorganization of the streetcleansing system will be far-reaching. The borough is to be divided into 19 sweeping " lengths," comprising the main roads, for the cleanliness of each of which a man with a double-bin orderly barrow will be responsible. In addition, 26 "districts," representing the side streets, will be established.
Reading has 107 miles of road, the actual sweeping length being 507 miles, or 7,146,404 sq. yds., per week. In the central area, which comprises the district within a half-mile .radius of the Town Hall, the roads will-be swept four times daily, the mileage cleansed being 61.3 per week.
Three times daily the " districts" will be swept (58.3 miles) and certain other highways twice daily (06.2. miles), once daily (76.2 miles), three times weekly (215.7 mile S of rural
roads) and once weekly a short length of .3 mile. The mileage figures represent the distance swept per week. In addition, in some areas, boys will be employed to pick up paper at regular intervals during the day. The refuse from the barrows of the "length" and "district" men will be collected twice daily by an S.D. Freighter.
At present, gully , and cesspool emptying is carried out by a Thornycroft machine, but shortly this appliance will be supplemented by another machine. One outfit will be devoted exclusively to gully cleansing, the other emptying cesspools as well as -gullies. There are 6,000 gullies in Reading, excluding those in the numerousprivate streets, which are not cleansed by the municipality, and the Thornycroft deals with 125 gullies a day.
Value of Controlled Tipping.
By means a the controlIeddipping system, low-lying land on one of the
banks of the River Kennet is being raised above flood level, and is being converted into allotments.
In the highways department, a fleet of eight Morris-Commercial lorries is mairitained, in addition to which there are six rollers. These are two Aveling and Porter, a 1Vlarshall and a Ballard roller of the heavier type as well as two Marshall Manumit hand-operated mechanical rollers, The whole fleet of municipal motors is housed at a central garage, where there is a night stall, which is responsible for vehicle washing anti greasing, and for minor mechanical adjustments and repairs. Each vehicle is washed and greased at least once a week.
The corporation carries out all its own repairs at a central repair depot, where complete overhauls, arranged on a routine basis, are also effected. Each driver reports nightly regarding the condition, of his vehicle and upon his work, so ' that it is difficult for any mechanical defect or other trouble to escape detection. At the central repair depot, day and night staffs are maintained.