MUNICIPAL CLEANSING IN GERMANY.
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The Increasing Employment in Some of the Most Important Cities of Dustfree Systems in Conjunction with Petrol and Electric Vehicles and Tractors.
J' OW to collect household refuse in the cheapest and most hygienic way is a transport problem that is indeed hard to answer. In spite of the numbers of different systems and methods in use at present, we are still very far from reaching an ideal, and it is therefore always of interest to study and consider any new systems, such as the " Dust-free " that is at present gaining in popularity in Germany.
One of the leading firms for the construction of dust-free bins and fittings, Messrs. Schmidt and Melmer, of Weidenau/ Sieg, -state that they have supplied fifteen towns with their patent fittings for this sysem in the last 12 months, which
shows that the idea has taught on in Germany. A brief description of this system was published in rlie Commercial Motor of June 22nd, and since' then the writer has had the
opportunity of seeing the system in operation in Diisseldorf and in Cologne.
Two Dust-free Systems.
The principle of this system is that the town supplies each householder with a standard bin, which has a strong lid, and this bin is collected and taken to the destructor or tip and there emptied and washed, whilst a clean bin is left in its place. Or, as an alternative', the bin is tipped directly into a covered wagon through specially constructed dust-free openings.
The former method is employed in both Diisseldorf and Cologne, whilst the latter is in use in Essen and Frankfurt and in a modified form in Vienna. In Dusseldorf (population 435,000 it has been in use for two years, and between a third and a quarter of the town is served by it. In the remainder of the town the old method of collecting with open wagons pulled by horse or by electric tractor is used. At present (13 horses and 32 motor vehicles are employed by the town, but the horses are gradually being replaced by electric or petrol vehicles. Dusseldorf has no destructor, and all the refuse must be carried to tips about three miles from the town. Therefore small station has been erected in the town to where the bins are conveyed and tipped directly into a largecapacity motor wagon, which then proceeds to the tip.
Six trains, each consisting of two trailers, carrying together 32 bins of 110 litres' capacity, and an electric tractor are in use for the operation of this system. The collection is made from each house on an average of twice
a week, one bin being allowed to three families as a general rule ; it being remembered that the Germans live almost entirely in fiats, so that four or five families live in one house. These laage-capacity bins are placed in the yard or cellar and can be used by the whole house.
Three men and a driver go with each train, the driver helping to load. To have more men is not found economical, as the men waste too much time walking between the wagon and the houses. On. the station, which in spite of being only a temporary erection handles a great deal of work very efficiently, are 10 men, who empty the bine and place them in the
Washing machines. The bins are tipped directly into a Bussing six-wheel or a D.A.A.G. four-wheeled wagon, which operates betwev the tip and the collection station. The Bussing carries 12 cubic metres of refuse, and another of this type has been purchased, as it was found that the six-wheelers are superior for traversing the rough ground by the tips, and they can go everywhere, even in wet weather, without the need of laying sleeper tracks. Pneumatics are• found much superior to solids on the six-wheelers; they last longer and give much better service.
What Is Done at Cologne.
In Cologne the system was introduced only six months ago, and at present only a small part of the town is served by it. The idea is to divide the town into about a dozen centres, each with a central station to which the bins will be taken. One station is at present working in the Poststrasse, and it is very elaborately and carefully designed. In fact, a stranger might almost mistake' the place for a dairy, so clean and free from dust is the entire building.
The dirt and refuse are here carried by a mechanical transporter to a waiting covered-in trailer. Foul; Hausa-Lloyd electric low-level wagons, which carry 18 bins and pull another 18 on a trailer, mei used. The refuse is then conveyed to the tip by large, specially built, totally enclosed trailers, whieh are hauled by a Krupp petrol tractor. These trailers are not tippers, but are emptied from underneath, being drawn over a pit for the purpose.
In Cologne the horse is being rapidly superseded by the motor ; electric vehicles being chiefly used for municipal work. In 1919 there were 199 horses in the service of the cleansing department, and in 1926 only 142, whilst the mechanical vehicles in municipal service grew from 2 in 1911 to 126 in 1926. It is hoped to have only mechanical transport in 1928.
The alternative method of tipping the bins directly into the collection vehicle is also practicable. The vehicle openings are fitted with patent devices so that the bins can be emptied without a speck of dust being raised. Krupps have designed a special vehicle for this work. It is a large covered wagon which carries 12 cubic metres of refuse. The refuse is tipped into an opening at the rear and carried by an endless chain, driven fromthe motor, to the top, where it falls left and right until the body is full. This seems rather complicated at first sight, but the' writer was informed that 14 of these vehicles are in use in Frankfurt, and are giving every satisfaction. Essen, the home of the Krupp wagon, also uses this model for refuse collection.
Bin-tipping Without Pollution.
Of course these dust-free apertures can be used on any low-loading wagon or trailer without the necessity for any complication. There is, however, no opportunity to wash the bins by this method, although they can be periodically cleansed by taking a spare bin at each trip and placing it in the position of the first one and so changing them along the trip and bringing the last one back to the station.
The chief point about this dust-free system is that it frees the streets from the abominable clouds of dust and dirt that accompany the usual refuse wagon and which, In addition to dirtying the streets and polluting the atmosphere, constitute a menace to the public health. Any system that helps to combat this is at any rate a step in the right direction, and there is no doubt that future developments will all tend to make refuse collection a cleaner and more hygienic operation.
The writer is indebted to Herr Magistratsbaurat a. D. Erhard, of the Information and Research Department of Messrs. Schmidt and Melmer ; Herr Director Brix, of the Diisseldorf Cleansing Department, and Herr Inspector Siegler, of Cologne Cleansing Department, for their kind assistance in the preparation of this article.
Public opinion in Britain is also rapidly developing in the direction of moresanitary methods for the collection and disposal of house refuse and, consequently, it is essential that our municipal authorities should not neglect to keep in touch with progress elsewhere.