Home Transit
of Venus Sewer
History in Leeds Sundials in Leeds William
Gascoigne John Feild About
VII. A MATTER OF ECONOMICS
The story of sewerage in Leeds is inevitable intertwined with that
of the wider social and economic developments. The rate of progress with public
and estate sewer construction in the city was dependent on many external
factors, as can be seen from the graph below.
Sewer construction work formed the basis of some unemployment
relief schemes (in the Hawksworth Valley for example) during the depressed
years of the early 1920s. The widespread industrial struggles of the 1920's too
had their reflection amongst the Sewerage Engineer's employees at Knostrop.
The 1921/22 Annual Report of the Sewerage Committee recorded that
"from 2/4/21 to 7/7/21 (both days inclusive) all treatment was
suspended in consequence of a general strike of workmen." Amazingly,
the Council's General Purposes Committee report for the same year noted that
"During the period under review no cases of withdrawal of labour were
reported of any of the workpeople employed in Corporation Departments."
! Can it really have escaped this Committee's notice that all the city's sewage
had been flowing totally untreated into the river for 1/5 of the year?
Notwithstanding lapses such as this, the sewerage system had
become an indispensible part of the economic infrastructure. Industrial use
accounted for a significant portion of the dry weather flow taken for
treatment. By 1938, out of a total dry weather flow of 19.42 million gallons
per day going for treatment, 5.35 million gallons was attributable to industry.
The make up of this volume is shown in Table 2:
|
Type
of Industry or Trade |
Gallons/Day |
|
Tanners,
Curriers, Fellmongers |
486,000 |
|
Piece
& Wool scouring/dyeing |
2,749,500 |
|
Chemical
Manufacturers |
86,800 |
|
Oil,
Soap, Tallow & Candles |
94,900 |
|
Breweries
& Vinegar Manufacturers |
729,400 |
|
Slaughter
Houses & Casing |
75,500 |
|
Garages |
50,400 |
|
Laundries |
533,500 |
|
Unclassified
Trades |
546,800 |
|
TOTAL |
5,352,800 |
Table
2. Industrial Effluents to the Sewers (1938)
Neighbouring Bradford was more fortunate than Leeds in the
industrial composition of its sewage. During World War I Bradford's Esholt Treatment
Works actually ran at a profit on the basis of selling the clear grease
(removed from the sewage "by the joint agencies of steam and
pressure") which emanated from dirty wool, cleaned with tons of soap.