You are on page 1of 53

Decentralized Water Reclamation

Engineering: A Curriculum Workbook


1st Edition Robert L. Siegrist (Auth.)
Visit to download the full and correct content document:
https://textbookfull.com/product/decentralized-water-reclamation-engineering-a-curric
ulum-workbook-1st-edition-robert-l-siegrist-auth/
More products digital (pdf, epub, mobi) instant
download maybe you interests ...

MedStudy Internal Medicine Review Core Curriculum 2017


2018 Robert A Hannaman

https://textbookfull.com/product/medstudy-internal-medicine-
review-core-curriculum-2017-2018-robert-a-hannaman/

Coulson and Richardson’s Chemical Engineering, Fourth


Edition: Volume 3A: Chemical and Biochemical Reactors
and Reaction Engineering R. Ravi

https://textbookfull.com/product/coulson-and-richardsons-
chemical-engineering-fourth-edition-volume-3a-chemical-and-
biochemical-reactors-and-reaction-engineering-r-ravi/

Water and Wastewater Engineering: Design Principles and


Practice Second Edition Mackenzie L. Davis

https://textbookfull.com/product/water-and-wastewater-
engineering-design-principles-and-practice-second-edition-
mackenzie-l-davis/

Society - Water - Technology: A Critical Appraisal of


Major Water Engineering Projects 1st Edition Reinhard
F. Hüttl

https://textbookfull.com/product/society-water-technology-a-
critical-appraisal-of-major-water-engineering-projects-1st-
edition-reinhard-f-huttl/
Internal Medicine Review Core Curriculum Book 1
Gastroenterology Infectious Disease Robert A. Hannaman
(Ed.)

https://textbookfull.com/product/internal-medicine-review-core-
curriculum-book-1-gastroenterology-infectious-disease-robert-a-
hannaman-ed/

GIS Tutorial 1 Basic Workbook Wilpen L. Gorr

https://textbookfull.com/product/gis-tutorial-1-basic-workbook-
wilpen-l-gorr/

The Social Work Practicum A Guide and Workbook for


Students Cynthia L. Garthwait

https://textbookfull.com/product/the-social-work-practicum-a-
guide-and-workbook-for-students-cynthia-l-garthwait/

Nuclear Engineering Fundamentals: A Practical


Perspective 1st Edition Robert E. Masterson

https://textbookfull.com/product/nuclear-engineering-
fundamentals-a-practical-perspective-1st-edition-robert-e-
masterson/

Water Engineering hydraulics distribution and treatment


1st Edition Shammas

https://textbookfull.com/product/water-engineering-hydraulics-
distribution-and-treatment-1st-edition-shammas/
Robert L. Siegrist

Decentralized
Water Reclamation
Engineering
A Curriculum Workbook
Decentralized Water Reclamation Engineering
Robert L. Siegrist

Decentralized Water
Reclamation Engineering
A Curriculum Workbook
Robert L. Siegrist
Department of Civil and Environmental
Engineering
Colorado School of Mines
Golden, CO, USA

ISBN 978-3-319-40471-4 ISBN 978-3-319-40472-1 (eBook)


DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-40472-1

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016947363

© Springer International Publishing AG 2017


This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or
part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of
illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way,
and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software,
or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are
exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in
this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor
the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material
contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made.

Printed on acid-free paper

This Springer imprint is published by Springer Nature


The registered company is Springer International Publishing AG
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
Preface

About the Topic

Water and sanitation can underpin a healthy society when solutions are
effective in protecting public health and preserving environmental quality
while being affordable, socially acceptable, and sustainable. In the United
States, water and sanitation infrastructure evolved during the 20th century in
response to a growing recognition that providing safe drinking water and
adequate treatment of wastewaters were needed to protect public health and
preserve water quality. During this evolution, there was always a mix of
onsite systems serving individual homes and businesses in rural and peri-
urban areas, decentralized systems serving suburban residential and mixed-
use developments, and larger centralized systems serving densely popu-
lated urban areas. However, the relative proportion of the population and
development served by different types of infrastructure has varied and
evolved over time.
During much of the 20th century, some viewed onsite and decentralized
wastewater systems as a means of providing temporary service until sewers
and a centralized treatment plant became available to provide permanent
service. Early versions of onsite systems (e.g., pit privy and cesspool) were
often designed with simple and short-term goals of human waste disposal to
prevent human exposure to infectious waste materials and to achieve basic
public health and environmental protection. As water-using fixtures and
appliances became commonplace, system designs evolved to include raw
wastewater treatment through solids separation and anaerobic digestion in a
tank-based unit (e.g., a septic tank) followed by effluent disposal to the land
(e.g., a soil drainfield). Continuing to evolve, onsite and decentralized sys-
tems were increasingly designed and implemented to achieve wastewater
treatment as well as disposal and even considered for beneficial water reuse.
But many designers and regulatory officials continued to view onsite and

v
vi Preface

decentralized systems as inherently deficient compared to centralized sys-


tems. As a result, during the latter half of the 20th century, there were major
Federal and State programs that provided funding for construction of waste-
water collection systems and centralized treatment plants. But the push to
expand service areas and increase the percentage of the population
connected to centralized wastewater systems eventually faded for a number
of reasons. The construction grants program that provided funding for cen-
tralization ended plus there was a growing realization that large centralized
systems were not appropriate for all rural and many suburban and peri-urban
areas and there were growing concerns about the sustainability of large
infrastructure. By the end of the 20th century, about 25 % of the US popula-
tion was served by onsite and decentralized wastewater systems and
approximately one-third of new development was being supported by such
systems. This amounted to roughly 25 million existing systems with about
200,000 new systems being installed each year.
Near the end of the 20th century and into the 21st century, a series of
activities and events in the United States helped catalyze a reevaluation of
how water and wastewater infrastructure could be made more sustainable.
There was growing interest in how onsite and decentralized systems could
help provide more sustainable infrastructure by:
• Reducing the use of drinking water to flush toilets and transport waste to
remote wastewater treatment plants.
• Preventing pollutant discharges from large centralized systems including
sanitary sewer overflows, combined sewer overflows, and leaking sewers.
• Recharging water near the point of water extraction and avoiding water
export and depletion of local water resources.
• Enabling recovery and reuse of wastewater resources including water,
organic matter, nutrients, and energy.
• Lowering consumption of energy and chemicals and reducing greenhouse
gas emissions.
• Providing infrastructure that is more robust and resilient to natural disas-
ters and climate change.
During this period, there was also a growing recognition that the capabil-
ities of 21st century onsite and decentralized systems should not be judged
based on the performance of older 20th century systems. The early versions
of onsite and decentralized systems (e.g., cesspools, seepage pits,
leachfields, and septic systems) were designed to be simple and cheap but
not to achieve long-term treatment or reuse goals. During the latter decades
of the 20th century, increased water use and wastewater generation and
more widespread use of disposal-based systems in a growing suburban
America led to hydraulic malfunctions, groundwater contamination, and sur-
face water quality deterioration. As a result, these older disposal-based
systems became known as “legacy systems.”
Preface vii

Based on major research and development efforts over the past two
decades or more, 21st century onsite and decentralized systems (hereafter
referred to as decentralized systems) have evolved and modern systems can
include a growing array of approaches, devices, and technologies that can
achieve wastewater treatment and enable resource conservation and reuse.
Ultraefficient fixtures and source separation plumbing can minimize water
and energy demands, enable resource recovery and reuse, and reduce
wastewater flows and loadings. Wastewater treatment can be achieved
using engineered reactor-based unit operations (e.g., aerobic bioreactors,
porous media biofilters, and membrane bioreactors) or engineered natural
system unit operations (e.g., constructed wetlands, subsurface soil infiltra-
tion, and landscape dispersal). Nutrient reduction strategies and technolo-
gies can remove and, in some cases, recover nitrogen and phosphorus.
Reuse of reclaimed water can occur through garden and landscape irriga-
tion, toilet flushing, and other functions. Sensors and monitoring devices can
be used to verify performance and enable remote monitoring and process
control to correct a system malfunction.
Today, decentralized systems involving wastewater treatment and water
reclamation can be used to serve buildings and developments with design
flows of less than 100 to 100,000 gal/day or more. Common and emerging
applications within the United States and similar industrialized countries
include approaches, technologies, and systems that are deployed for one
or more of the following purposes:
• To provide effective wastewater treatment for homes and businesses in
rural and peri-urban areas and residential, commercial, and mixed-use
developments in suburban areas.
• To provide effective wastewater treatment for buildings and developments
while also producing reclaimed water for nonpotable reuse purposes such
as toilet flushing, cooling, or irrigation.
• To recover valuable wastewater resources including nutrients, organic
matter, and energy.
• To earn points for a green building or sustainability rating through the low
impact water and wastewater management options enabled by
decentralized systems.
• To provide appropriate treatment and recovery of stormwater runoff in
suburban and urbanized areas.
Decentralized systems are also critical to providing safe drinking water
and adequate sanitation in developing regions of the world. In developing
regions worldwide, concerns about sustainability of large water and waste-
water infrastructure are not yet paramount. Rather, concerns are still focused
on how best to provide solutions for safe drinking water and effective sani-
tation—solutions that are effective, affordable, and socially acceptable.
viii Preface

For nearly a generation now, the virtues and varied benefits of


decentralized systems have been increasingly recognized and approaches,
technologies, and systems have been advocated as critical components for a
21st century water infrastructure in the United States and worldwide. Trans-
lating this recognition and advocacy into meaningful impacts requires a
portfolio of education and training activities that target different audiences
to achieve different outcomes.

About This Workbook

Decentralized Water Reclamation Engineering—A Curriculum Workbook


was developed to present technical information and materials concerning
the engineering of decentralized infrastructure for wastewater treatment and
water reclamation in a form suitable for classroom lectures or self-study. The
approaches, technologies, and systems are targeted for sustainable infra-
structure across the United States and similar industrialized nations, but they
are also applicable in developing regions around the world.
The intended audience for this Workbook includes educators and students
engaged in curriculum concerned with water and sanitation and the scientists
and engineers seeking to improve the state of the art and standard of
practice. This Workbook should also be highly informative for design pro-
fessionals, contractors, technology developers, regulators, policy makers,
and others involved in, or just interested in, the subject of sustainable infra-
structure for water and sanitation.
The subject of decentralized water reclamation engineering spans a
wealth of approaches, technologies, and systems too numerous to properly
cover in a single curriculum workbook. This Workbook was intentionally
crafted to provide in-depth information about a selected number of key
topics. The presentation is intentionally concise so the information can be
efficiently conveyed through course lectures or self-study. The intended
outcome is for the reader to increase their understanding and know-how
such that they are able to complete an engineering design of a decentralized
system for a particular project. Topics covered in this Workbook include:
• Introduction to decentralized infrastructure for wastewater treatment and
water reclamation and reuse (Chap. 1).
• Selection, design, and implementation of decentralized systems to satisfy
project goals and requirements including sustainability (Chap. 2).
• Characteristics of contemporary water use and wastewater generation
and methods to predict flow and composition data for use in design
(Chap. 3).
Preface ix

• Water use efficiency and source separation as a means to reduce water


use, energy consumption, and greenhouse gas emissions and enhance
treatment and enable resource recovery (Chap. 4).
• Alternative methods of wastewater collection and conveyance that are
well suited to decentralized system applications (Chap. 5).
• Tank-based treatment operations including septic tanks, aerobic treat-
ment units, porous media biofilters, and membrane bioreactors that can
be used to produce primary to tertiary quality effluents (Chaps. 6–9).
• Wetland-based treatment operations including free water surface and
vegetated subsurface bed constructed wetlands that can be used to
produce advanced secondary quality effluents (Chap. 10).
• Land-based treatment operations involving subsurface soil infiltration that
can be used to treat wastewater and assimilate the reclaimed water into a
local hydrologic system (Chap. 11).
• Land-based treatment operations involving landscape drip dispersal that
can be used to treat wastewater and, in many cases, beneficially recover
the water and nutrients for their fertilizer value (Chap. 12).
• Approaches and technologies that can be used as needed to achieve
nutrient reduction (and resource recovery in some cases) and pathogen
destruction to enable a particular discharge or reuse plan (Chaps. 13
and 14).
• Management requirements and methods for process solids, sludges, and
residuals that are generated during decentralized wastewater treatment
and water reclamation (Chap. 15).
The Workbook contains 15 chapters, each of which comprises a summary
section and a conceptual and technical details section. The summary section
presents the scope and key concepts of the chapter topic and provides
definitions of terminology and acronyms abbreviations and symbols and a
list of references. There are also short-answer questions and calculation
problems relevant to the topic of the chapter. The conceptual and technical
details section is presented in a slide format that was developed for teaching
and then embellished and expanded to provide detailed coverage of a topic.
The slides section of each treatment technology chapter (Chaps. 6–14) is
divided into major parts that consist of a technology description, treatment
performance, principles and processes, design and implementation, sum-
mary, and example problems. The Workbook contains over 300 figures and
illustrations of technologies and systems and over 150 tables of design and
performance data. There are also more than 200 questions and problems
relevant to the topics covered including more than 50 example problems that
have solutions to illustrate decentralized system assessment and design.
The author developed and refined the contents of the Workbook over the
past decade to support delivery of a 15-week long course focused on
x Preface

engineering design for decentralized water reclamation and reuse. This


university level course was developed for education of upper level under-
graduate and graduate students at the Colorado School of Mines in Golden,
Colorado, in the United States. The contents of the Workbook have also
been used for delivery of seminars, guest lectures, and professional devel-
opment workshops.

Boulder, CO Robert L. Siegrist


Acknowledgments

The author is grateful to many individuals and organizations who have


served as colleagues, students, research sponsors, collaborators, and sup-
porters over a 40-year career, most of which has been focused on education,
research, and practice in areas of decentralized wastewater treatment and
water reclamation and reuse. A number of these individuals and organiza-
tions are represented by those listed below who reviewed and commented
on the contents of a draft version of this Workbook during summer and fall
2015. Each chapter in this Workbook was reviewed by three to six of those
listed below based on their expertise in the subject area covered. Several
individuals reviewed the entire Workbook. The Workbook was finalized
based on the general and specific review comments provided by individuals
representing academia, design professionals, and technology companies.
The author gratefully acknowledges and appreciates the review efforts of
those listed below—their contributions have greatly improved the content
and quality of the first edition of this Workbook. The author also acknowl-
edges the valuable contributions of numerous individuals and organizations
that shared photographs of technologies and systems and field installations.1

Reviewers (In Alphabetical Order)


Damann Anderson
Hazen and Sawyer, Tampa, FL

James Bell
Bio-Microbics, Inc., Shawnee, KS

1
Note: The inclusion of a specific company or technology in the Workbook does not
necessarily reflect a general positive endorsement and conversely, the lack of inclusion
of a specific company or technology should not be interpreted as a negative endorsement.

xi
xii Acknowledgments

Terry Bounds
Orenco Systems®, Inc., Roseburg, OR
John Buchanan
University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN
Glen Daigger
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
Vic D’Amato
Tetra Tech, Inc., Research Triangle Park, NC

Simon Farrell
JVA, Inc., Denver, CO
Mengistu Geza
Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO
Petter Jenssen
Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway
Jim Kreissl (Retired)
Tetra Tech, Inc., U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati, OH

Harold Leverenz
University of California—Davis, Davis, CA
George Loomis
University of Rhode Island, Providence, RI
Kathryn Lowe
Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO

Robert Mayer
American Manufacturing Company, Elkwood, VA
Pongsak Noophan
Kasetsart University, Bangkok, Thailand
Dick Otis (Retired)
Ayres Associates, Inc., Madison, WI

Manoj Pandey
Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway

Bob Rubin (Emeritus)


North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC

Roger Shafer
SCG Enterprises, Inc., Pine, CO
Acknowledgments xiii

David Stensel
University of Washington, Seattle, WA
George Tchobanoglous (Emeritus)
University of California—Davis, Davis, CA

Carl Thompson
Infiltrator® Water Technologies, LLC, Old Saybrook, CT

Pei Xu
New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM
Contents

1 Introduction to Decentralized Infrastructure


for Wastewater Treatment and Water Reclamation . . . . . . . 1
1.1 Scope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 Key Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.3 Conceptual and Technical Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.4 Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.5 Acronyms, Abbreviations and Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.6 Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Chapter 1 Slides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
1.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
1.2 Wastewater Perspectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
1.3 Wastewater Infrastructure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
1.4 Decentralized Infrastructure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
1.5 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
2 Selection, Design and Implementation of Decentralized
Infrastructure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
2.1 Scope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
2.2 Key Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
2.3 Conceptual and Technical Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
2.4 Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
2.5 Acronyms, Abbreviations and Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
2.6 Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Chapter 2 Slides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
2.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
2.2 Project Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
2.3 Treatment Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
2.4 Sustainability Attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

xv
xvi Contents

2.5 Configuring Viable Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69


2.6 Ensuring System Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
2.7 Management Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
2.8 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
3 Contemporary Water Use and Wastewater Generation . . . . 81
3.1 Scope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
3.2 Key Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
3.3 Conceptual and Technical Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
3.4 Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
3.5 Acronyms, Abbreviations and Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
3.6 Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Chapter 3 Slides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
3.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
3.2 Characterization Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
3.3 Water Use and Wastewater Flow . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
3.4 Wastewater Composition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
3.5 Predicting Flow and Composition . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
3.6 Current and Emerging Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
3.7 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
3.8 Example Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
4 Water Use Efficiency and Waste Stream Source
Separation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
4.1 Scope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
4.2 Key Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
4.3 Conceptual and Technical Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
4.4 Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
4.5 Acronyms, Abbreviations and Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
4.6 Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
Chapter 4 Slides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
4.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
4.2 Water Use Efficiency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
4.3 Source Separation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
4.4 Predicting Effects and Benefits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
4.5 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
4.6 Example Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
5 Alternative Wastewater Collection and Conveyance
Systems for Decentralized Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
5.1 Scope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
5.2 Key Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
5.3 Conceptual and Technical Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
5.4 Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
5.5 Acronyms, Abbreviations and Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
Contents xvii

5.6 Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187


References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
Chapter 5 Slides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
5.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
5.2 Principles and Processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
5.3 Design and Implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
5.4 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
5.5 Example Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
6 Treatment Using Septic Tanks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
6.1 Scope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
6.2 Key Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
6.3 Conceptual and Technical Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
6.4 Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
6.5 Acronyms, Abbreviations and Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
6.6 Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246
Chapter 6 Slides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248
6.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248
6.2 Treatment Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252
6.3 Principles and Processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258
6.4 Design and Implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266
6.5 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281
6.6 Example Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282
7 Treatment Using Aerobic Bioreactors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
7.1 Scope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
7.2 Key Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
7.3 Conceptual and Technical Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294
7.4 Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294
7.5 Acronyms, Abbreviations and Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298
7.6 Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303
Chapter 7 Slides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305
7.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305
7.2 Treatment Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310
7.3 Principles and Processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312
7.4 Design and Implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327
7.5 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351
7.6 Example Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 352
8 Treatment Using Porous Media Biofilters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365
8.1 Scope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365
8.2 Key Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365
8.3 Conceptual and Technical Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369
8.4 Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 370
xviii Contents

8.5 Acronyms, Abbreviations and Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . 374


8.6 Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 376
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 380
Chapter 8 Slides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383
8.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383
8.2 Treatment Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 388
8.3 Principles and Processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 391
8.4 Design and Implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 400
8.5 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 434
8.6 Example Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 435
9 Treatment Using Membrane Bioreactors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 451
9.1 Scope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 451
9.2 Key Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 451
9.3 Conceptual and Technical Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 454
9.4 Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 454
9.5 Acronyms, Abbreviations and Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . 456
9.6 Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 457
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 460
Chapter 9 Slides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 461
9.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 461
9.2 Treatment Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 465
9.3 Principles and Processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 467
9.4 Design and Implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 472
9.5 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 484
9.6 Example Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 485
10 Treatment Using Constructed Wetlands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 491
10.1 Scope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 491
10.2 Key Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 491
10.3 Conceptual and Technical Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 494
10.4 Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 495
10.5 Acronyms, Abbreviations and Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . 498
10.6 Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 499
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 503
Chapter 10 Slides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 504
10.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 504
10.2 Treatment Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 508
10.3 Principles and Processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 511
10.4 Design and Implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 518
10.5 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 538
10.6 Example Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 538
11 Treatment Using Subsurface Soil Infiltration . . . . . . . . . . . 547
11.1 Scope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 547
11.2 Key Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 547
Contents xix

11.3 Conceptual and Technical Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 553


11.4 Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 553
11.5 Acronyms, Abbreviations and Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . 558
11.6 Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 560
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 564
Chapter 11 Slides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 568
11.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 568
11.2 Treatment Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 573
11.3 Principles and Processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 577
11.4 Design and Implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 594
11.5 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 625
11.6 Example Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 626
12 Treatment Using Landscape Drip Dispersal . . . . . . . . . . . . 641
12.1 Scope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 641
12.2 Key Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 641
12.3 Conceptual and Technical Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 643
12.4 Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 644
12.5 Acronyms, Abbreviations and Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . 645
12.6 Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 647
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 650
Chapter 12 Slides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 651
12.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 651
12.2 Treatment Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 653
12.3 Principles and Processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 655
12.4 Design and Implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 660
12.5 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 689
12.6 Example Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 689
13 Treatment for Nutrient Reduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 701
13.1 Scope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 701
13.2 Key Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 701
13.3 Conceptual and Technical Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 705
13.4 Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 705
13.5 Acronyms, Abbreviations and Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . 708
13.6 Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 710
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 711
Chapter 13 Slides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 714
13.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 714
13.2 Treatment Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 717
13.3 Principles and Processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 719
13.4 Design and Implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 729
13.5 Development-Scale Situations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 755
13.6 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 759
13.7 Example Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 759
xx Contents

14 Treatment for Pathogen Reduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 765


14.1 Scope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 765
14.2 Key Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 765
14.3 Conceptual and Technical Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 770
14.4 Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 770
14.5 Acronyms, Abbreviations and Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . 772
14.6 Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 773
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 775
Chapter 14 Slides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 777
14.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 777
14.2 Treatment Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 781
14.3 Principles and Processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 783
14.4 Design and Implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 802
14.5 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 817
14.6 Example Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 817
15 Management of Process Solids, Sludges,
and Residuals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 825
15.1 Scope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 825
15.2 Key Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 825
15.3 Conceptual and Technical Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 831
15.4 Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 831
15.5 Acronyms, Abbreviations and Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . 833
15.6 Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 833
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 834
Chapter 15 Slides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 836
15.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 836
15.2 Septage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 840
15.3 Waste Biological Solids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 848
15.4 Granular Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 851
15.5 Vegetation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 853
15.6 Excreta and Fecal Sludge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 855
15.7 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 866
Appendix A: Unit Conversion Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 867
Appendix B: Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 869
Appendix C: Acronyms, Abbreviations and Symbols . . . . . . . . 901
Appendix D: References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 915
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 939
About the Author

Robert L. Siegrist is University Professor Emeritus of Environmental Sci-


ence and Engineering at the Colorado School of Mines where he is also a
Research Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering. He earned his
B.S. (with High Honors) and M.S. degrees in Civil Engineering and his Ph.D.
degree in Environmental Engineering at the University of Wisconsin. While at
the University of Wisconsin, Dr. Siegrist was a graduate student and then
research staff member with the Small Scale Waste Management Project, a
large multidisciplinary research program focused on the development and
application of small systems for water and wastewater treatment and dis-
posal/reuse. Before joining the Colorado School of Mines in 1995,
Dr. Siegrist held academic and research positions with the University of
Wisconsin, Norwegian Institute for Georesources and Pollution Research,
and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Dr. Siegrist was also a founding partner
and senior engineer with RSE, Inc., an environmental consulting company
that specialized in the engineering of decentralized systems for water and
sanitation.
Dr. Siegrist is an internationally recognized expert in decentralized sys-
tems for wastewater treatment and water reclamation as well as in situ
remediation of contaminated soil and groundwater. He has published
300 technical papers and authored two reference books. Dr. Siegrist has
given invited lectures at more than 100 workshops and conferences in more
than 30 countries worldwide. He has served as a science and engineering
advisor to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of
Energy, the Department of Defense, the National Research Council, and
the Government Accountability Office and was appointed a Fellow with the
North Atlantic Treaty Organization Committee for Challenges to Modern
Society.
At the Colorado School of Mines, Dr. Siegrist served as Director of the
Environmental Science and Engineering Division from 2001 to 2010. He was

xxi
xxii About the Author

also Program Director for the Small Flows Program, which he established in
1998 to advance the science and engineering of sustainable decentralized
approaches to water and sanitation. The Program was designed to enhance
the quantitative understanding of processes important to system design and
performance and to develop decision-support tools for applications involving
individual houses and buildings up to those involving large developments,
communities, and watershed-scale situations. Research and educational
activities were carried out by a team of faculty, staff, and students from
several departments in collaboration with other institutions in the United
States and abroad. To support research and teaching, a unique field test
facility known as the Mines Park Test Site was established on the university
campus. Dr. Siegrist developed an undergraduate/graduate course covering
the principles and practices of decentralized water reclamation and reuse.
List of Figures

Fig. 1.1 Water and wastewater infrastructure are inextricably


linked by the actions of humans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Fig. 1.2 Illustration of the UN human development index . . . . . . 15
Fig. 1.3 Timeline attributes important to assessing the status
and future of water and wastewater infrastructure
in a particular situation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Fig. 1.4 Illustration of classic centralized (a) and decentralized
infrastructure (b, c) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Fig. 1.5 Illustration of water and wastewater in a low
HDI setting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Fig. 1.6 Cover pages from two recent U.S. National Academy
publications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Fig. 1.7 Home page of the WERF website for decentralized
systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Fig. 1.8 Home page of the DWRC website for onsite and
decentralized systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Fig. 1.9 Home page of the website for the NSF research
center for reinventing urban water infrastructure . . . . . . 27
Fig. 1.10 The EPA decentralized memorandum
of understanding partnership papers were
released in 2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

xxiii
xxiv List of Figures

Fig. 1.11 Examples of system components: (a) urine diverting


toilet, (b) septic tank and pump vault, (c) small
diameter sewer, (d) primary settling and recirculation
fiberglass tanks, (e) aerobic treatment unit, (f)
recirculating textile media biofilters, (g) recirculating
foam filter in a shipping container, (h) membrane
bioreactor, (i) subsurface flow constructed wetland,
(j) chamber-equipped subsurface soil treatment unit,
(k) landscape drip dispersal unit, (l) denitrifying wood
chip biofilter, (m) ultraviolet light disinfection unit . . . . . . 30
Fig. 1.12 Illustration of developments where decentralized
infrastructure has been deployed: (a) individual
home, (b) school, (c) restaurant in rural areas, (d)
apartment building or (e) strip mall in suburban areas,
(f) homes and businesses in a small town or (g) high
rise office and condominium buildings in a city . . . . . . . . 31
Fig. 1.13 Illustration of a city center area with nearby urbanizing
areas where decentralized infrastructure can be
deployed along with centralized infrastructure . . . . . . . . . 31
Fig. 1.14 Illustration of example approaches and technologies
that can be used to configure a decentralized system
for a particular discharge or reuse goal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Fig. 1.15 Example of a system and illustration of key
components for use at single houses and
businesses where soil and site conditions
are suitable for soil-based treatment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Fig. 1.16 Example of a system and illustration of key
components for use where soil and site conditions
are suitable for soil-based treatment and water reuse
and nutrient recovery is desired . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Fig. 1.17 Example of a system and illustration of key
components for use where advanced treatment
is needed to enable discharge to a local inland
stream or lake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Fig. 1.18 Example of a system and illustration of key
components used to serve a development
or small town including wastewater collection
and conveyance to a local site for treatment
and reuse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Fig. 1.19 Example of a membrane bioreactor system serving
a high rise apartment building in a major urban area
to produce reclaimed water for nonpotable reuse and
help earn LEED certification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
List of Figures xxv

Fig. 1.20 Simulations with STUMOD revealing there is a 50 %


probability of 70 % nitrogen removal at 60-cm depth
in a subsurface soil treatment unit under the assumed
conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Fig. 1.21 Simulations with the watershed model, WARMF,
revealing there would be an increase in nutrient
loading to the Blue River if onsite systems are
replaced by a centralized system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Fig. 2.1 Generalized sequence of strategies and unit
operations that could be used to configure one
or more viable decentralized systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Fig. 2.2 Illustration of a treatment train within a decentralized
system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Fig. 2.3 Example of how footprint area and energy use
can differ between systems designed for discharge
versus water reuse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Fig. 2.4 Generalized decision support diagram to aid
configuring viable decentralized systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Fig. 2.5 Example system for a single source to provide
passive treatment and discharge with limited cost
and O&M needs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Fig. 2.6 Example system for a single source and passive
treatment plus aesthetic benefits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Fig. 2.7 Example of two optional systems for a single source
where site conditions require secondary treatment
(aerobic unit or packaged biofilter) with discharge
to a stream . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Fig. 2.8 Example system for a single source where treatment
is needed to enable water and nutrient recovery
by turf irrigation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Fig. 2.9 Example system for a development where
nonpotable reuse is desired with a high capacity
treatment system that is not constrained by natural
site conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Fig. 2.10 Illustrative schematic of source separation options
and associated treatment and reclamation
alternatives for projects serving homes or businesses 73
Fig. 2.11 Illustration of O&M requirements as a function
of system complexity and treatment efficiency
requirements of a particular project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Fig. 2.12 Illustration of the interaction of project scale and
system complexity in determining the need for O&M
and monitoring to help assure inherent performance
capability is realized . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
xxvi List of Figures

Fig. 2.13 Recommended management system based on


increasing risks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Fig. 3.1 Illustration of indoor water use activities and events
leading to wastewater generation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Fig. 3.2 Illustration of different types of residential buildings
and situations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Fig. 3.3 Illustration of different types of nonresidential
buildings and situations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Fig. 3.4 Relationship of household indoor water use to family
size as measured in the 1970s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Fig. 3.5 Distribution of average indoor water use expressed
on a per capita basis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Fig. 3.6 Distribution of average indoor water use expressed
on a per capita basis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Fig. 3.7 Water use can occur as a batch event (e.g., toilet
flush, clotheswasher or dishwasher use) or due
to a flow rate over a period of usage (e.g., sink
or shower use) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Fig. 3.8 Relative contribution to total indoor water use due
to different activities based on an indoor water use
study of 1188 houses located in nine locations
across the United States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Fig. 3.9 Ratio of maximum rates to average rates as a function
of flow rate of interest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Fig. 3.10 Illustration of the daily wastewater flow rates from
three individual houses (left) versus the combined
flow from a cluster of ten houses (right) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Fig. 3.11 Probability of occurrence of an average daily flow
from a development of houses declines as the
number of houses contributing increases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Fig. 3.12 Illustration of how wastewater concentrations are on
average higher (e.g., compare medians) and can vary
more widely (compare slopes) for nonresidential
buildings compared to residential sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Fig. 3.13 Consumer product chemicals in wastewaters from
nonresidential compared to residential sources . . . . . . . 117
Fig. 3.14 Generalized decision diagram for predicting flow
and composition characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Fig. 3.15 Number of persons occupying individual dwelling
units in the United States based on census data . . . . . . 121
Fig. 3.16 Generalized decision diagram for predicting the
occurrence of trace organic compounds in
decentralized systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
List of Figures xxvii

Fig. 4.1 Photograph of a dried up inland lake during a 1970s


drought . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
Fig. 4.2 Brochure for low flow toilet fixtures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
Fig. 4.3 Examples of advanced minimum flow fixtures: (a)
vacuum flush toilet, (b) composting dry toilet, and
(c) waterless urinal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Fig. 4.4 Average indoor water use for an individual dwelling
unit in the United States during different periods with
different sets of fixtures and appliances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
Fig. 4.5 Examples of consumer products and medicines that
can enter the wastewater stream . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Fig. 4.6 Example of a bag filter for a clothes washer
discharge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Fig. 4.7 Illustration of a waste segregation scheme proposed
in 1978 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Fig. 4.8 Source separation to enable ecological sanitation
as proposed in Norway . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
Fig. 4.9 Illustration of modern approaches to source
separation and management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
Fig. 4.10 Example of source separation for blackwater and
graywater at a 33-unit apartment building in Oslo
Norway. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
Fig. 4.11 Example of urine diversion in a residential
development using urine diverting toilets with nutrient
recovery via agricultural fertilizer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Fig. 4.12 Example mass balance schematics for application
before (left) or after (right) source separation . . . . . . . . . . 173
Fig. 5.1 Illustration of several scenarios with different
wastewater conveyance options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
Fig. 5.2 Cross-section of a typical gravity sewer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
Fig. 5.3 Photographs of conventional sewer line installation . . . 196
Fig. 5.4 Cross-section of a STEG sewer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
Fig. 5.5 Photographs illustrating the installation of a septic
tank effluent pressure sewer (STEP) in a rural
development area. Installation is made using a
continuous trencher (left) and insulation can be added
for shallow burial in cold climates (top). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
Fig. 5.6 Illustration of the key components of a grinder pump
pressure sewer system (top) and a vacuum sewer
system (bottom) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
Fig. 5.7 Examples of a small town (left) and lower density rural
housing development (right) where there are larger lot
sizes and would be limited connections per mile
of sewer line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
xxviii List of Figures

Fig. 5.8 Illustration of topographic conditions and the


collection network outlet location as it relates
to the suitability of using a particular alternative
sewer system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
Fig. 5.9 Illustration of a STEG system serving a development
of 26 apartment buildings (denoted by B1, B2, etc.). . . 203
Fig. 5.10 Illustration of a STEP system serving a development
of 26 apartment buildings (denoted by B1, B2, etc.). . . 203
Fig. 5.11 Topographic cross-section of the 11 segments within
a STEG system serving a development of
26 apartment buildings as shown in Fig. 5.9 . . . . . . . . . . . 204
Fig. 5.12 Example calculation of the number of EDUs
contributing to a sewer line segment where there are
upstream EDUs contributing plus EDUs from
buildings connected directly to the segment . . . . . . . . . . . 206
Fig. 5.13 Illustration of how EDUs accumulate in a STEG
system serving a development of 26 apartment
buildings as shown in Fig. 5.9. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
Fig. 5.14 QDP values versus cumulative EDUs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
Fig. 5.15 Illustration of an EGL along 3 segments of a STEG
system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
Fig. 5.16 Illustration of an EGL along 3 segments of a STEP
system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
Fig. 5.17 Illustration of TDH components in a STEP system . . . . 214
Fig. 5.18 Illustration of TDH along 3 segments within a STEP
system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
Fig. 5.19 Illustration of the head—discharge curve for a ½-hp
high head submersible pump such as used in a STEP
system. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
Fig. 5.20 Illustration of the onsite system components
of a STEG system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
Fig. 5.21 Illustration of the onsite system components
of a STEP system (Orenco Systems®, Inc.) . . . . . . . . . . . 222
Fig. 5.22 Illustration of an external pumping unit for a STEP
system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
Fig. 5.23 Illustration of an air release valve setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
Fig. 5.24 Illustration of cleanouts used in STEG systems at the
end of a terminal segment (left) and along a segment
(right) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
Fig. 5.25 Photographs of effluent sewer main installation using
a continuous trencher (left) and directional drilling
(right) methods. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
Fig. 5.26 Photographs of a septic tank/pump vault installation
along a lakeshore development (left) and a service
List of Figures xxix

lateral run from a residence to the main sewer line


(right). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226
Fig. 5.27 Photograph of insulated pipe used for shallow burial
of sewer pipe in a cold climate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226
Fig. 5EP.1 Aerial photograph of the Mines Park housing
development located on the campus of the Colorado
School of Mines in Golden, Colorado USA . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
Fig. 5EP.2 STEG collection system layout for the Mines Park
development. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
Fig. 5EP.3 STEG system layout for the Mines Park development
with Segment 1 highlighted. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
Fig. 5EP.4 STEP collection system layout for the Mines Park
development with Segment 1 highlighted. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
Fig. 6.1 Classification of preliminary and primary treatment
unit operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249
Fig. 6.2 Schematic cross-section of a typical Imhoff tank
used for advanced primary treatment of wastewater . . 249
Fig. 6.3 Schematic of a single compartment septic tank
as used in the United States during the 20th century . 250
Fig. 6.4 Illustration of a modern two-compartment septic tank
unit with effluent screen, pump and controls that was
developed in the United States during the later 20th
century . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
Fig. 6.5 Example of an upflow anaerobic sludge blanket
(UASB) reactor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
Fig. 6.6 Illustration of treatment efficiency achieved within
a septic tank unit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253
Fig. 6.7 Key features and processes involved in treatment
within a basic septic tank unit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258
Fig. 6.8 Illustration of the supernatant flow zone
in a septic tank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259
Fig. 6.9 Illustration of how a septic tank can produce an
effluent with more uniform flow and homogeneous
composition compared to the individual water-using
activities and events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259
Fig. 6.10 Illustration of how HRT and SRT interact during
normal operation of a septic tank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263
Fig. 6.11 Simplified mass balance on solids within a typical
septic tank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264
Fig. 6.12 Septage generation rates for septic tanks serving
households in the United States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264
Fig. 6.13 Installation of two 2000 gal pre-cast concrete tanks
in series to serve an apartment building: (a) is a view
west during installation and (b) is a view east after
installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272
xxx List of Figures

Fig. 6.14 Photographs of a large installation of 20,000 gal


fiberglass septic tanks to serve a national park
visitor’s center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
Fig. 6.15 Illustration of a septic tank effluent screening unit
being lifted out of the effluent baffle tee to permit
inspection and cleaning if needed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274
Fig. 6.16 Illustration of a pumping unit in a cylindrical vault
placed within the second compartment
of a septic tank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274
Fig. 6.17 Illustration of an aeration insert that consists
of an air-lift pump that provides aeration in a septic
tank and semi-continuously discharges small
volumes of effluent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276
Fig. 6.18 Illustration of a septic tank with an integrated biofilter
where there is partial recycle of the filter effluent back
to the septic tank for biological N removal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276
Fig. 6EP.1 Illustration of a Xerxes 6000-gal fiberglass dual
compartment tank. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283
Fig. 7.1 Classification of aerobic biological treatment methods
based on how the biomass is contacted with the
wastewater within different types of bioreactors . . . . . . . 306
Fig. 7.2 Illustration of mixed liquor being aerated in an
aeration tank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307
Fig. 7.3 Illustration of an ATU with an integrated primary
settling unit, suspended growth bioreactor, and
secondary clarifier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308
Fig. 7.4 Examples of three commercially available ATUs
that utilize submerged growth bioprocesses. . . . . . . . . . . 309
Fig. 7.5 Examples of three commercially available ATUs
that utilize attached growth bioprocesses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309
Fig. 7.6 Illustration of treatment efficiency achieved within
an aerobic treatment unit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311
Fig. 7.7 Relative abundance of microorganisms within
a healthy activated sludge during aerobic biological
treatment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313
Fig. 7.8 Illustration of bacterial growth as a function of time
and food supply . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313
Fig. 7.9 Illustration of specific growth rate as a function
of substrate concentration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318
Fig. 7.10 Simplified schematic of unit operations that
implement suspended growth aerobic biological
treatment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322
Fig. 7.11 Simplified schematic of unit operations that
implement attached growth aerobic biological
treatment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
each name mentioned has a story of its own. Two publishers at the outset
attract our regard; except for them, much would have been lost to English
and American children.
As early as Elizabeth’s time, Rafe Newberie, Master of Stationer’s
Company, published Hakluyt’s “Voyages.” From him, John Newbery
(1713–1767) was descended. Given an ordinary schooling, he was
apprenticed to the printer, William Carnan, who, dying in 1737, divided his
worldly goods between his brother Charles, and his assistant John. The
latter, in order to cement his claim still further, married his employer’s
widow, by whom he had three children, Francis, his successor in the
publishing business, being born on July 6, 1743.
Newbery was endowed with much common sense. He travelled
somewhat extensively before settling in London, and, during his
wanderings, he jotted down rough notes, relating especially to his future
book trade; the remarks are worthy of a keen critic. During this time it is
hard to keep Newbery, the publisher, quite free from the picturesque career
of Newbery, the druggist; on the one hand Goldsmith might call him “the
philanthropic publisher of St. Paul’s Churchyard,” as he did in the “Vicar of
Wakefield,” which was first printed by Newbery and Benjamin Collins, of
Salisbury; on the other hand, in 1743, one might just as well have praised
him for the efficacy of the pills and powders he bartered. Now we find him
a shopkeeper, catering to the captains of ships from his warehouse, and
adding every new concoction to his stock of homeopathic deceptions. Even
Goldsmith could not refrain from having a slap at his friend in “Quacks
Ridiculed.”
He made money, however, and he associated with a literary set among
whom gold was much coveted and universally scarce. The portly Dr.
Johnson ofttimes borrowed a much-needed guinea, an unfortunate privilege,
for he had a habit of never working so long as he could feel money in his
pocket. This generosity on the part of Newbery did not deter Johnson from
showing his disapproval over many of the former’s publications. We can
well imagine the implied sarcasm in his declaration that Newbery was an
extraordinary man, “for I know not whether he has read, or written most
books.” Between 1744 and 1802, records indicate that Newbery and his
successors printed some three hundred volumes, two hundred of which
were juvenile; small wonder he needed the editorial assistance of such
persons as Dr. Johnson and Oliver Goldsmith.
One of the first pieces the latter let Newbery have, was an article for the
Literary Magazine of January, 1758. Then there came into existence The
Universal Chronicle, or Weekly Gazette in April, 1758, for which Johnson
wrote “The Idler.” In 1759, The British Magazine or Monthly Repository for
Gentlemen and Ladies, by T. Smollett, M.D., and others was announced,
Smollett then taking a rest cure in jail. As though magazines could be
launched in a few hours without sinking, a daily sheet called the Public
Ledger was brought into existence on January 12, 1760, for which
Goldsmith wrote his “Chinese Letters.” Between this date and 1767,
Goldsmith resided in a room on the upper floor of Newbery’s house at
Islington, and the publisher’s son declares that while there Goldsmith read
to him odd parts of “The Traveller” and the “Vicar of Wakefield.” This has
not so much evidence to support it as the fact that bills presented at the front
door for Goldsmith, usually found their way to Newbery for settlement.
How much actual suggestion Goldsmith gave to his publisher-employer,
how far he influenced the character of the books to be printed, cannot be
determined; he and Griffith and Giles Jones assuredly encouraged the
juvenile picture stories. An advertisement of 1765 calls attention to the
following: “The Renowned History of Giles Gingerbread, a little boy who
lived upon learning” [the combination is very appropriate in its
compensating qualities of knowledge and “sweets”]; “The Whitsuntide Gift,
or the Way to be Happy”; “The Valentine Gift, or how to behave with
honour, integrity and humanity”; and “The History of Little Goody Two
Shoes, otherwise called Margery Two Shoes.”
Though he could not wholly escape the charge of catering to the moral
craze of the time, Newbery at least infused into his little books something
of imagination and something of heroic adventure; not sufficient however to
please Dr. Johnson, who once said: “Babies do not want to hear about
babies; they like to be told of giants and castles, and of somewhat which
can stretch and stimulate their little minds.” A thrust at the ignorance of
grown people, regarding what children like, is further seen in Johnson’s
remark that parents buy, but girls and boys seldom read what is calculated
for them.
There are many to praise Newbery’s prints; they were more or less
oddities, even in their own time. Their usefulness was typified in such
books as the “Circle of Sciences,” a compendium of universal knowledge;
their attractiveness was dependent not only upon the beauty of their make,
but also upon the queerness of their format; for example, such volumes as
were called the snuff-box series, or ready references for waistcoat pockets.
Then there was the combination plan, indicated in the announcement: “A
Little Pretty Pocket-Book, intended for the Instruction and Amusement of
Little Master Tommy and Pretty Miss Polly, with an agreeable letter to read
from Jack-the-Giant-Killer, as also a Ball and Pincushion, the use of which
will infallibly make Tommy a Good Boy, and Polly a Good Girl.... Price of
the Book alone, 6d., with a Ball or Pincushion, 8d.”
The variety of Newbery’s ideas resulted in every species of book-
publishing, from a children’s magazine (The Lilliputian), with Goldsmith as
the reputed editor, to a child’s grammar. Interested one moment in a
machine for the colouring of silks and cloths, at another he would be
extolling the fever powders of Dr. James, a whilom schoolfellow of
Johnson. He was untiring in his business activity. His firm changed name
many times, but always Newbery remained the dominant figure. After his
death, the business continued for some while to be identified with its
founder, and for a long period his original policy was continued. Francis
Newbery, the son, left an autobiography of historic value.
Newbery’s real genius consisted in his trading ability. Modern
advertising is not more clever than that practised by this shrewd man of the
eighteenth century. Not only was he in the habit of soliciting puffs, and of
making some of the characters in his stories proclaim the excellencies of his
books, but the personal note and the friendly feeling displayed in his
newspaper items were uncommonly intimate. Witness the London
Chronicle for December 19–January 1, 1765:
“The Philosophers, Politicians, Necromancers, and the learned in every
faculty are desired to observe that on the first of January, being New Year’s
day (oh, that we all may lead new lives!), Mr. Newbery intends to publish
the following important volumes, bound and gilt, and hereby invites all his
little friends who are good to call for them at the Bible and Sun, in St.
Paul’s Churchyard, but those who are naughty to have none.”
Thomas in later years adopted the same method of advertising.
The most thorough piece of research work done by Mr. Charles Welsh is
his “A Bookseller of the Last Century.” Had he aimed at nothing more than
preserving the catalogue of Newbery’s books, he would have rendered a
great service to the library student. But he has in addition written a very
complete life of Newbery. When it is noted that this printer was brought
into business relations with Robert Raikes, and was further connected with
him by the union of Newbery’s son with Raikes’ sister, it is safe to believe
that some of the piousness which crept into the publisher’s wares was
encouraged by the zealous spirit of the founder of Sunday-schools. Raikes
will be dealt with in his proper place.
Newbery was what may be termed an enthusiastic publisher, a careful
manufacturer of books of the flower-and-gilt species. As a friend he has
been pictured nothing loath to help the needy, but always with generous
security and heavy interest attached; he was a business man above all else,
and that betokens keenness for a bargain, a keenness akin to cleverness
rather than to graciousness. In his “Life of Goldsmith,” Washington Irving
is inclined to be severe in his estimate; he writes:
“The poet [Goldsmith] has celebrated him as the friend of all mankind;
he certainly lost nothing by his friendship. He coined the brains of authors
in the times of their exigency, and made them pay dear for the plank put out
to keep them from drowning. It is not likely his death caused much
lamentation among the scribbling tribe.”
One difficulty Newbery had to contend with was the piracy of his books;
there was no adequate protection afforded by the copyright system, and we
read of Goldsmith and Johnson bewailing the literary thievery of the day.
By some it was regarded as a custom to be accepted; by others as a
deplorable condition beyond control. Early American authorship suffered
from the same evil, and Irving and Cooper were the two prominent victims.
The book list of Isaiah Thomas (1749–1831), the Worcester,
Massachusetts printer, shows how freely he drew from the London
bookseller. Called by many the Didot of America, founder of the American
Antiquarian Society, author of one of the most authentic histories of early
printing in this country, he is the pioneer of children’s books for America.
He scattered his presses and stores over a region embracing Worcester and
Boston, Mass.; Concord, N. H.; Baltimore, Md.; and Albany, N. Y. Books
were kept by him, so he vouched, specially for the instruction and
amusement of children, to make them safe and happy. In his “Memoirs”
there is found abundant material to satisfy one as to the nature of reading
for young folks in New England, previous to the Revolution.
Emerson writes in his “Spiritual Laws” regarding “theological
problems”; he calls them “the soul’s mumps and measles and whooping-
cough.” Already the sombre sternness of Colonial literature for children has
been typified in the “New England Primer.” The benefits of divine songs
and praises; the reiteration of the joy to parents, consequent upon the
behaviour of godly children; the mandates, the terrible finger of retribution,
the warning to all sinners lurking in the throat disease which was prevalent
at one time—all these ogres rise up in the Thomas book to crush juvenile
exuberance. Does it take much description to get at the miserable heart of
the early piety displayed by the heroines of Cotton Mather’s volumes, those
stone images of unthinkable children who passed away early, who were
reclaimed from disobedience, “children in whom the fear of God was
remarkably budding before they died”? Writers never fail to say, in
speaking of Thomas White’s “Little Book for Children” (reprint of 1702),
that its immortality, in the face of all its theology, is centred in one famous
untheological line, “A was an archer who shot at a frog.”
What Thomas did, when he began taking from Newbery, was to change
colloquial English terms to fit new environment; the coach no longer
belongs to the Lord Mayor, but to the Governor instead.[29] The text is only
slightly altered. We recognise the same little boys who would become great
masters; the same ear-marks stigmatise the heroines of “The Juvenile
Biographer,” insufferable apostles of surname-meaning, Mistresses
Allgood, Careful, and Lovebook, together with Mr. Badenough. Oh, Betsey
and Nancy and Amelia and Billy, did you know what it was to romp and
play?
The evident desire on the part of Miss Hewins, in her discussion of early
juvenile books, to emphasise the playful, in her quotations from Thomas’
stories, only indicates that there was little levity to deal with. Those were
the days of gilded “Gifts” and “Delights”; the pleasures of childhood were
strangely considered; goodness was inculcated by making the hair stand on
end in fright, by picturing to the naughty boy what animal he was soon to
turn into, and what foul beast’s disposition was akin to that of the fractious
girl. Intentions, both of an educational and religious nature, were excellent,
no doubt; but, when all is estimated, the residue presents a miserable,
lifeless ash.[30]
So far no distinctive writer for children has arisen. The volumes issued
by Newbery represent a conscious attempt to appeal through form to the
juvenile eye. If the books were addressed intentionally to children, their
amusement consisted in some extraneous novelty; it was rarely contained in
the story. Action rather than motive is the redeeming feature of “Goody
Two Shoes.” As for religious training, it was administered to the child with
no regard for his individual needs. He represented a theological stage of sin;
the world was a long dark road, through the maze of which, by his birth, he
was doomed to fight his little way. Life was a probationary period.
It is now necessary to leave the New England book, and to return to it
through another channel. The viewpoint shifts slightly; a new element is to
be added: a self-conscious recognition of education for children. The
sternness of the “New England Primer” possessed strength. The didactic
school, retaining the moral factor,—several points removed from theology
—sentimentalised it; for many a day it was to exist in juvenile literature
rampant. And, overflowing its borders, it was to influence later chap-books,
and some of the later publications of Thomas and Newbery. Through
Hannah More, it was to grip Peter Parley, and finally to die out on
American shores. For “Queechy” and “The Wide, Wide World” represent
the final flowering of this style. In order to retain a clear connection, it is
necessary to watch both streams, educational and moral, one at first
blending with the other, and flourishing in this country through a long list of
New England authors, until, in the end, the educational, increasing in
volume, conquered altogether.

Bibliographical Note
The Babees Book—Ed. Frederick J. Furnivall, M.A. Published for the
Early English Text Society. London, Trübner, 1868.
In the foreword, note the following:
Education in early England:
1. In Nobles’ Houses; 2. At Home and at Private Tutors’; 3. At English
Universities; 4. At Foreign Universities; 5. At Monastic and Cathedral
Schools; 6. At Grammar Schools. Vide the several other prefaces.
This collection contains:
1. The Babees Book, or a ‘Lytyl Reporte’ of How Young People
Should Behave (circa 1475 a.d.); 2. The A B C of Aristotle (1430 a.d.);
3. The Book of Curteisie That is Clepid Stans Puer ad Mensam (1430
a.d.); 4. The boke of Nurture, or Schoole of good maners: For Men,
Servants, and children (1577); 5. The Schoole of Vertue, and booke of
good Nourture for chyldren and youth to learne theyr dutie by (1557).
Vide Vol. iv, Percy Society, London, 1841:1. The Boke of Curtasye, ed.
J. O. Halliwell. 2. Specimens of Old Christmas Carols, ed. T. Wright. 3.
The Nursery Rhymes of England, ed. J. O. Halliwell, 1842: a. Historical;
b. Tales; c. Jingles; d. Riddles; e. Proverbs; f. Lullabies; g. Charms; h.
Games; i. Literal; j. Paradoxes; k. Scholastic; l. Customs; m. Songs; n.
Fragments.
Vide Vol. xxix, Percy Society, London, 1849. Notices of Fugitive
Tracts and Chap-books printed at Aldermary Churchyard, Bow
Churchyard, etc., ed. J. O. Halliwell.

Ashton, John—Chap-books of the 18th Century.


Ashton, John—Social Life in the Time of Queen Anne.
Bergengren, R.—Boswell’s Chap-books and Others. Lamp, 28:39–44
(Feb., 1904).
Chambers, W.—Historical Sketch of Popular Literature and Its Influence
on Society, 1863.
Cunningham, R. H.—Amusing Prose Chap-books. Glasgow, 1889.
Faxon, Frederick Winthrop—A Bibliography of the Modern Chap-books
and their Imitators (Bulletin of Bibl. Pamphl. No. 11), Boston Book Co.,
1903. [A “freak” movement, beginning with the publication of Chap-
book, at Cambridge, May 15, 1894.]
Ferguson, Chancellor—On the Chap-books in the Bibliotheca
Jacksoniana in Tullie House, Carlisle. Archaeolog. Jour., 52:292 (1895).
Fraser, John—Scottish Chap-books. (2 pts.) New York, Hinton, 1873.
Gerring, Charles—Notes on Printers and Booksellers, with a Chapter on
Chap-books. London, 1900.
Halliwell, James Orchard—A Catalogue of Chap-books, Garlands, and
Popular Histories in the Possession of Halliwell. London, 1849.
Harvard College Library—Catalogue of English and American Chap-
books and Broadside Ballads in 1905 (Bibl. contrib. No. 56).
Nisard, Marie Léonard Charles—Histoire des Livres Populaires ou de la
Littérature du Colportage, depuis l’origine de l’imprimerie jusqu’ à
l’établissement de la Commission d’examen des livres du Colportage (30
Nov., 1852) [2 vols.]. Paris, Dentu, 1864.
Pearson, Edwin—Banbury Chap-books and Nursery Toy Book Literature
of the 18th and Early 19th Centuries. London, 1890.
Pyle, Howard—Chap-book Heroes. Harper’s Monthly Magazine, 81:123
(1890).
Sieveking, S. Giberne—The Mediæval Chap-book as an Educational
Factor in the Past. The Reliquary and Illus. Archaeolog., 9:241 (1903).

The student is referred to the following invaluable reference for matter


relating to New England literature: Catalogue of the American Library of
the Late Mr. George Brinley of Hartford, Conn. (5 pts.) Hartford: Press of
the Case, Lockwood, and Brainard Co., 1878–97. Not completed.
Comprising a list of Books printed at Cambridge and Boston, 1640–
1709.
Pt. I.—The Bay Psalm Book, No. 847; Almanacs, 1646–1707; The
Mathers, Special Chapter of References.
Pt. III.—Bibles, 146; Catechisms and Primers, New England Primer,
158; Music and Psalmody, 163; Psalms and Hymns, 172.
Pt. IV.—Continuation of Psalms and Hymns; Bibl. Ref. to
Denominational Churches, Law, Government, Political Economy,
Sciences, etc.; Popular Literature: Jest Books, Anecdotes, 131; Chap-
books, 135; Books for Children, 139; Mother Goose, 140; Primers and
Catechisms, 141; Educational, 143; Almanacs, 163; Theology, 177.
Pt. V.—Newspapers and Periodicals, 137.
Ford, Paul Leicester—The New England Primer (ed.). N. Y., Dodd,
Mead, 1897. (Edition limited.) [Vide excellent bibliography.]
The New England Primer. Bookman, 4:122–131 (Oct., 1896).
Johnson, Clifton—The New England Primer. New England Mag., n.s.
28:323. (May, 1903.) [Some essential data, but written superficially.]
Marble, Annie Russell—Early New England Almanacs. New England
Mag., n.s. 19:548. (Jan., 1899.) [Vide also Griswold’s Curiosities of
American Literature; Tyler’s History of American Literature; Thomas’s
History of Printing. A collection of Almanacs is owned by the Am.
Antiq. Soc., Worcester, Mass.]

Collin de Plancy—Memories of Perrault.


Dillaye, Frédéric—Les Contes de Perrault (ed.). Paris, 1880.
Lang, Andrew—Perrault’s Popular Tales; edited from the original
editions, with an introduction by. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1888. [A
concise and agreeable introduction to the study of folk-lore in general,
and of a few noted tales in particular.]
Old-Fashioned Fairy Tales—Madame D’Aulnoy, Charles Perrault, etc.
Little, Brown, $1.00.
Old French Fairy Tales—C. Perrault, Madame D’Aulnoy. Little, Brown,
$1.00.
D’Anois, Countess—Fairy Tales, Translated from the French of. (2 vols.)
London, 1817.
D’Aulnoy, Comtesse—Mémoires de la. [Vide Collection pour les jeunes
filles.]
Hale, Edward Everett—Reprint of the Monroe and Francis Mother
Goose.
Green, P. B.—History of Nursery Rhymes. London, 1899.
Headland, J. T.—Chinese Mother Goose. Chicago, 1900.
Halliwell, J. O.—Nursery Rhymes of England; collected principally from
oral tradition. London, 1842. [The Percy Society, Early English Poetry.]
Popular Rhymes and Nursery Tales. A Sequel to Nursery Rhymes.
London, 1849.
Ritson, Joseph—Gammer Gurton’s Garland; or, The Nursery Parnassus.
London, 1810; reprint 1866.
Welsh, Charles—An Appeal for Nursery Rhymes and Jingles. Dial
(Chicago), 27:230 (1 Oct., 1899).

Father of Children’s Books—Current Literature, 27:110.


Welsh, Charles—A Bookseller of the Last Century. Griffith, Farren & Co.
London.

Batchelder, F. R.—Patriot Printer. New England Mag., n.s. 25:284 (N.


‘01).
Evans, Charles—American Bibliography. A Chronological Dictionary of
all Books, Pamphlets, and Periodical Publications Printed in the United
States of America. From the genesis of Printing in 1639 Down to and
Including the Year 1820. With Bibliographical and Biographical Notes.
Privately Printed for the Author by the Blakely Press, Chicago. Anno
Domini mdcccciii. Thus far issued: Vol. I. 1639–1729; Vol. II. 1730–
1750; Vol. III. 1751–1764.

Livingston, L. S.—American Publisher of a Hundred Years Ago.


Bookman, 11:530 (Aug., ’00).
Nichols, Charles L.—Some Notes on Isaiah Thomas and his Worcester
Imprints. Am. Antiq. Soc., 1899–1900, n.s., 13:429.
Thomas, Benjamin Franklin—Memoir of Isaiah Thomas. By his
Grandson. Boston, 1874.
Hewins, Caroline M.—The History of Children’s Books. Atlantic, 61:112
(Jan., 1888).
Welsh, Charles.—The Early History of Children’s Books in New
England. New England Mag., n.s. 20:147–60 (April, 1899).
Yonge, Charlotte M.—Children’s Literature of the Last Century. Liv.
Age, 102:373 (Aug. 7, 1869); 612 (Sept. 4, 1869); 103:96 (Oct. 9, 1869).

FOOTNOTES
[15] In “The Child and His Book,” by Mrs. E. M. Field (London: Wells
Gardner, Darton & Co., 1892), the reader is referred to chapters: Before
the Norman Conquest; Books from the Conquest to Caxton; The Child
in England, 1066–1640. Her researches form an invaluable contribution
to the history of children’s books, furnishing sources for considerable
speculation. Much is included of interest to the antiquarian only.
[16] Thomas Newbery was the author. Vide Fugitive Tracts, 1875.
Hazlitt and Huth.
[17] As early as 1262, the macaronic style of delivering sermons was
customary. The gradual substitution of the vernacular for Latin is dealt
with in the introduction to the present author’s edition of “Everyman,”
1903, xxvii.
[18] Chap = An abbreviation of Chapman, which seems to have come
into vulgar use in the end of the 16th c.; but it is rare in books, even in
the dramatists, before 1700. It was not recognised by Johnson. 1577
Breton Toyes Idle Head (Grosart). Those crusty chaps I cannot love. a.
A buyer, purchaser, customer.
Chap-book = f. chap in Chapman + Book. A modern name applied
by book collectors and others to specimens of the popular literature
which was formerly circulated by itinerant dealers or chapmen,
consisting chiefly of small pamphlets of popular tales, etc. 1824 Dibdin
Libr. Comp. It is a chap-book, printed in rather neat black letter. 1882 J.
Ashton Chap-books, 18th Century in Athenæum 2 Sept. 302/1. A great
mass of chap-books.
Chapman = [OE. Céapmann = OHG. Choufman (OHG., MHG.
Koufman), Ger. Kaufmann.] A man whose business is buying and
selling; a merchant, trader, dealer. Vide 890 K. Ælfred Bæda. Vide
further, A New English Dictionary. Murray, Oxford.
[19] “The History of Tom Hickathrift” is regarded as distinctively
English; its literary qualities were likened by Thackeray to Fielding.
Vide Fraser’s Magazine.
[20] The notice ran as follows: “Advertisement: There is now in the
Press, and will suddenly be extant, a Second Impression of The New
England Primer, enlarged, to which is added, more Directions for
Spelling; the Prayer of K. Edward the 6th, and Verses made by Mr.
Rogers, the Martyr, left as a Legacy to his Children. Sold by Benjamin
Harris, at the London Coffee-House in Boston.”
[21] Three typical examples of later reprints are: The N. E. Primer,
Walpole, N. H., I. Thomas & Co., 1814; The N. E. Primer Improved for
the More Easy Attaining the True Reading of English. To which is added
The Assembly of Divines and Episcopal Catechisms. N. Y., 1815; The
N. E. Primer, or an Easy and Pleasant Guide to the Art of Reading,
Mass. Sabbath School Soc., 1841.
[22] Another writer of Contes des fées was Mme. Jeanne Marie Le
Prince de Beaumont (1711–1780), author of “Magasins des Enfans, des
Adolescens et des Dames.”
[23] The Original Mother Goose’s Melody, as first issued by John
Newbery, of London, about a.d. 1760. Reproduced in facsimile from the
edition as reprinted by Isaiah Thomas, of Worcester, Mass., about a.d.
1785. With Introductory Notes by William H. Whitmore. Albany,
Munsell, 1889. [Vide N. E. Hist. and Geneal. Regist., 1873, pp. 144, 311;
Proceed. Am. Antiq. Soc., Oct., 1888, p. 406.]
[24] Lang says the term Mother Goose appears in Loret’s “La Muse
Historique” (Lettre v., 11 Juin, 1650). Vide also Deulin, Charles—Les
Contes de Ma Mère L’Oye, avant Perrault. Paris, 1878; and Halliwell, J.
O.—Percy Society.
[25] He was the author also of a “History of Animated Nature.”
[26] A list of his publications is owned by the Bodleian Library, Oxford.
[27] Vide Notes and Queries, June, 1875, 5th series, iii, 441. Prof.
Edward F. Rimbault.
[28] Gentleman’s Magazine, 1826, Pt. ii, 467–69.
[29] Nurse Truelove’s New Year’s Gift; or, the Book of Books for
Children. Adorned with Cuts; and designed for a Present to every little
Boy who would become a great Man, and ride upon a fine Horse; and to
every little Girl, who would become a great Woman, and ride in a
Governour’s Gilt Coach.
[30] An interesting field of investigation: Early New England Printers.
Mr. Welsh mentions a few in article referred to, p.60. A full list of
Printers and Publishers (North and South) given in Evans’s American
Bibliography.
III. THE OLD-FASHIONED LIBRARY
A child should not need to choose between right and wrong. It
should not be capable of wrong; it should not conceive of wrong.
Obedient, as bark to helm, not by sudden strain or effort, but in the
freedom of its bright course of constant life; true, with an
undistinguished, painless, unboastful truth, in a crystalline
household world of truth; gentle, through daily entreatings of
gentleness, and honourable trusts, and pretty prides of child-
fellowship in offices of good; strong, not in bitter and doubtful
contest with temptation, but in peace of heart, and armour of
habitual right, from which temptation falls like thawing hail; self-
commanding, not in sick restraint of mean appetites and covetous
thoughts, but in vital joy of unluxurious life, and contentment in
narrow possession, wisely esteemed.—John Ruskin, in an
introduction to Grimm’s “German Popular Tales,” illustrated by
Cruikshank.

I. The Rousseau Impetus.


Mr. E. V. Lucas has compiled two volumes of old-fashioned tales for
modern readers. In his introductions he analyses the qualities of his selected
stories, and it is generally the case that, except for incidental detail, what is
said of one of a kind might just as appropriately be meant for the other. If,
at moments, the editor is prone to confuse quaintness with interest, he
makes full amends by the quick humour with which he deals with the moral
purpose. Perhaps it was part of the game for our great-grandfathers to
expect didacticism, but simply because children were then considered “the
immature young of men” is no excuse, although it may be a reason, for the
artificiality which subserved play to contemplation. Wherever he can
escape the bonds of primness, Mr. Lucas never fails to take advantage; the
character of his selections indicates this as well as such critical remarks as
the following:
“The way toward a nice appreciation of the child’s own peculiar
characteristics was, however, being sought by at least two writers of the
eighteenth century, each of whom was before his time: Henry Brooke, who
in ‘The Fool of Quality’ first drew a small boy with a sense of fun, and
William Blake, who was the first to see how exquisitely worth study a
child’s mind may be.”
Mr. Lucas brings together a number of stories by different persons,
treating them as a group. Should you read them you will have a fairly
distinct conception of early nineteenth century writing for children. But
there is yet another way of approaching the subject, and that is by tracing
influence from writer to writer, from group to group; by seeking for the
impetus without which the story becomes even more of a husk than ever.
Let us conjure up the long row of theoretical children of a bygone age,
painfully pathetic in their staidness, closely imprisoned. They began with
Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778), the iconoclast, who attacked civil
society, the family, the state, the church, and from whose pen the school did
not escape chastisement. His universal cry of “back to nature” frightened
the conservative; even Voltaire could not refrain, on reading the essay
dealing with the origin of inequality among men, to write him: “Never has
any one employed so much genius to make us into beasts. When one reads
your book he is seized at once with a desire to go down on all-fours.”
Rousseau’s “Émile, or Treatise on Education” (1762) was wholly
revolutionary; it tore down ancient theories, such as those practised by Dr.
Isaac Watts upon his “ideal” boy and girl; all existent educational strictures
were ignored. Rousseau applied to childhood his belief in the free unfolding
of man’s nature; however impracticable his methods, he loosed the chains
that held fast the claims of childhood, and recognised their existence. He set
the pendulum swinging in the human direction; he turned men’s minds upon
the study of the child as a child, and, because of this, takes his place at the
head of modern education. He opened the way for a self-conscious striving
on the part of authors to meet the demands of a child’s nature, by furnishing
the best literary diet—according to educational theories—for juvenile
minds. Revolutionary in religious as well as in political and social ideals,
Rousseau’s educational machinery was destined to be infused, by some of
his zealous followers, with a piousness which he never would have
sanctioned.
Training should be natural, says Rousseau; the child should discover
beauty, not be told about it; should recognise spontaneously what he is now
taught. Education should be progressive; at the same time it should be
negative. This sounds contradictory, but Rousseau would keep his child a
child until the age of twelve; he would prevent him from knowing through
any mental effort; he would have him grow like “Topsy” in animal spirits,
his mind unbridled and imbibing facts as his lungs breathe in air. Yet
inconsistency is evident from the outset: the child must observe, at the same
time he must not remember. Is it possible, as Professor Payne challenges, to
form the mind before furnishing it?
Rousseau’s precepts are wise and brilliant. We hear him exclaiming: “It is
less consequence to prevent him [the child] from dying than to teach him
how to live;” “The man who has lived most is not he who has numbered the
most years, but he who has had the keenest sense of life;” “The best bed is
that which brings us the best sleep.” These aphorisms are as apt as those of
Franklin; but in their exercise it is necessary to consider the concomitants
brought into play.
Émile is made an orphan; thus Rousseau gives himself full sway; thus
does he free himself from the necessity of constant consultation with
parents. He is determined to love the boy, to encourage him in his sports, to
develop his amiable instincts, his natural self. Émile must not cry for the
sweets of life; he must have a need for all things rather than a joyful desire
for some. Instead of teaching virtue to him, Rousseau will try to shield him
from a knowledge of all vice. Where Plato recommends certain pastimes, he
will train Émile to delight in himself—thus making of him something of a
youthful egoist. This amœba state, endowed with all physical liberty,
deprived of all dignity of childish memory, is to be the boyhood of Émile.
He “shall never learn anything by heart, not even fables and not even those
of La Fontaine, artless and charming as they are.” Though he does not
possess the judgment to discriminate, he must be told the bare facts, and he
must discover for himself the relations which these facts bear to each other.
At the age of twelve, he shall hardly know a book when he sees it.
Rousseau calls books “cheerless furniture.”
So much for the boy; the girl Sophie fares as ill. Being of the woman
kind as well as of the child brand, she is to develop in even a more
colourless fashion. Fortunately all theory is not human actuality, and Émile
must have peopled his world in a way Rousseau could not prevent. We are
given natural rights and hereditary endowments; even the savage has his
standards and his dreams. Rousseau’s plan of existence ignored the social
evolution of history. Yet Émile might by such training have been saved
many wearisome explanations of the Mr. Barlow type, and it is ofttimes
true, as Mr. G. K. Chesterton claims, that the mysteries of God are
frequently more understandable than the solutions of man.
There was much in Rousseau’s book to rouse opposition; there was
equally as much to appeal to those whose instinctive love of childhood was
simply awaiting the flood gates to be opened. Like the Grimm fairy tales of
suspended animation, on the instant, the paternal instinct began to be active,
the maternal instinct to be motherly. Rousseau—emended, modified,
accentuated—overran England, France, and Germany. Children were now
recognised as children; it remained to be seen whether they were to be
children.
The didactic era is in no way more fitly introduced than with the names
of Madame de Genlis and Arnaud Berquin in France, together with the
Edgeworth and Aikin families and Thomas Day in England. To each, small
space may be allotted, but they are worthy of full and separate
consideration.
Stéphanie Félicité [Ducrest de St. Aubin], Comtesse de Genlis (1746–
1830), is represented upon the library shelves by nearly a hundred volumes.
They were written during the course of a varied existence, at the court of
Louis XV and at home. Her Mémoires are told in a facile and delightful
style, and indicate how she so thoroughly balanced the many conflicting
elements in her duties that she remains for those days a rare example of
wife, mother, society woman, and student. Her discernment of people, as
revealed in these pages, was penetrating and on the whole just; and, though
a typical product of her time, her nature was chastened by a refined and
noble spirit.
The first glimpse she affords of herself is as a child of six, when she was
taken to Paris. There, her brother was placed at a seat of learning, where the
master guaranteed within six weeks’ time to teach him reading and spelling
by means of a system of counters. The little girl’s teeth were shedding—not
a prepossessing phase of growth at best. But, in addition, she was encased
in whalebone stays, her feet were squeezed into tight shoes, her curls done
up in corkscrew papers, and she was forced to wear goggles. The height of
cruelty now followed. Country-bred as she had been, her manner was not in
accord with the best ideas; her awkwardness was a matter of some concern.
In order to give better poise to her head, a thick iron collar was clapped
upon her supple throat. Here she was then, ready for regular lessons in
walking. To run was to court disfavour, for little girls, especially city ones,
were not allowed to do such an improper thing; to leap was an unspeakable
crime; and to ask questions was an unwarranted license. It is small wonder
that later on she should utilise the memory of such abject slavery in “The
Dove,” one of the numerous plays included in her “Theatre of Education.”
Her early years thus prepared Madame de Genlis for the willing
acceptance of any new educational system, especially one which would
advocate a constant companionship between parents and child. For she had
been reared with but exceptional glimpses of her father and mother; during
one of these times she relates how the former, in his desire to make her
brave, forced her to catch spiders in her hands. Such a picture is worthy a
place by the side of Little Miss Muffet.
Like all children, Madame de Genlis was superior to her limited
pleasures; she possessed an imagination which expanded and placed her in
a heroic world of her own making. There is peculiar pleasure in discovering
under narrow circumstances the good, healthy spirit of youth. Madame de
Genlis seemed proud to record a certain dare-devil rebellion in herself
during this period. The pendulum that is made to swing to its unnatural bent
brings with the downward stroke unexpected consequences. And so, when
she married De Genlis, it is no surprise to read that she did so secretly—a
union which is most charmingly traced in the Memoirs.
She developed into a woman with deep religious sensibility; with
forceful personality; with artistic talent, well exemplified by a masterly
execution on the harp. Living in an atmosphere of court fêtes, the drama
occupied no small part in her daily life. Whether at her Château Genlis or
elsewhere, she was ever ready for her rôle in theatricals, as dramatist or as
actress. She played in Molière, and was accounted excellent in her
characters; naught pleased her better than a disguise; beneath it her vivacity
always disported itself.
Her interest in teaching began early; no sooner was she a mother than she
hastened to fix her opinions as to the duties that lay before her, in a written
treatise called “Reflections of a Mother Twenty Years of Age,” views which
in their first form were lost, but which were rehabilitated in the later “Adèle
et Théodore,” consisting of a series of letters on education.
After her mind had been drawn to the style of Buffon—for Madame de
Genlis was a widely read woman—she determined upon improving her own
manner of literary expression. She burned her bridges behind her, and fed
the flames with all of her early manuscripts. Then she started over again to
reconstruct her views, and in her study she made careful notes of what she
fancied of importance for her future use. She was on intimate terms with
Rousseau, took him to the theatre, and conversed with him on education
chiefly, and about diverse matters generally. If she did not agree with him,
Madame de Genlis was told that she had not as yet reached the years of
discretion when she would find his writings suited to her. But Rousseau
enjoyed the vivacious lady, who was kind-hearted and worth while talking
to, notwithstanding the fact that she had the courtier’s love of banter. She
writes:
“Not to appear better than I am, I must admit that I have often been given
to ridicule others, but I have never ridiculed anything but arrogance, folly,
and pedantry.”
Madame de Genlis was not a hero-worshipper; on first meeting
Rousseau, his coat, his maroon-coloured stockings, his round wig suggested
comedy to her, rather than gravity. We wonder whether she asked his advice
regarding the use of pictures in teaching history, a theory which she
originated and which Mrs. Trimmer was to follow in her Bible lessons. Full
as the days were, Madame de Genlis, nevertheless, seems to have been able
to give to her children every care and attention. This must have won the
unstinted commendation of Rousseau, who preached that a boy’s tutor
should be his father, and not a hired person.
Madame de Genlis created her own theatre; she wrote little comedies of
all kinds, which met with great success. Often these would be presented in
the open air, upon platforms erected beneath the shade of forest trees; by
means of the drama she sought to teach her daughters elementary lessons of
life; the stage to her was an educational force. Through the plays her
popularity and reputation increased to such an extent, that the Electress of
Saxony demanded her friendship. She became instructress to the children of
the Duke and Duchess of Chartres, and she prided herself upon being the
first in France to adopt the foreign method of teaching language by
conversation.[31] The rooms for her royal pupils were fitted according to her
special indications. Rough sketches were made upon a wall of blue,
representing medals, busts of kings and emperors of Rome. Dates and
names were frescoed within easy view. Every object was utilised, even to
the fire screens, which were made to represent the kings of France; and over
the balustrades were flung maps, like banners upon the outer walls.
Up and down such staircases, and through such rooms wandered the
cultivated flowers of royalty. They did not suffer, because their teacher was
luckily human as well as theoretical; because she had a vein of humour as
well as a large seriousness. Her whole educational scheme is described in
her “Lessons of a Governess” and “Adèle et Théodore.” When she engaged
a tutor to attend to the special studies of the young prince in her charge, she
suggested the keeping of an hourly journal which would record the little
fellow’s doings—each night she, herself, to write critical comments upon
the margins of every page. In addition, she kept a faithful record of
everything coming within her own observation; and this she read aloud each
day to her pupils, who had to sign their names to the entries. But much to
the chagrin of Madame de Genlis, the Duke and Duchess refused to take the
time to read the voluminous manuscripts; they trusted to the wisdom and
discretion of the teacher.
Not a moment was lost during these busy periods; history was played in
the garden, and civic processions were given with ponies gaily caparisoned.
Even a real theatre was built for them. Royalty was taught to weave, and
was taken on instructive walks and on visits to instructive places. But,
through all this artificiality, the woman in Madame de Genlis saved the
teacher.
The latter part of her eventful life was filled with vexations, for the
thunders of the French Revolution rolled about her. A short while before the
storm broke, she went on a visit to England, where she came in contact with
Fox and Sheridan, with Walpole and Reynolds; and where she paid a
special visit to the House of Commons and was a guest at Windsor.
All told, here was a writer for children, self-conscious and yet ofttimes
spontaneous in her style. She is interesting because of herself, and in spite
of many of her literary attempts. She is little read to-day, in fact rarely
mentioned among juvenile book lists; education killed a keen perception
and vivacity by forcing them along prescribed lines. One glimpse of
Madame de Genlis in old age is recorded by Maria Edgeworth, who called
on her in 1803.
“She came forward, and we made our way towards her as well as we
could, through a confusion of tables, chairs, and work-baskets, china,
writing-desks and inkstands, and bird-cages and a harp.... She looked like
the full-length picture of my great-great-grandmother Edgeworth you may
have seen in the garret, very thin and melancholy, but her face not so

You might also like