The Absorption of Oxygen by De-Aerated Water

The Report of the Metropolitan Sewerage Commission of New York, dated August 1st, 1912, and recently issued, contains, among other interesting material, a Report by Dr. W. E. Adeney, in which especial attention is given to the subject of re-aeration of polluted tidal waters. Dr. Adeney’s views and conclusions are in many respects directly contradictory to those which William M. Black, M. Am. Soc. C. E., Colonel, Corps of Engineers, United States Army, and the writer reached after a study of this problem, in connection with New York Harbor, and fully stated in a report to the Board of Estimate and Apportionment of New York City, published March 23d, 1911. As this last-named report did not have a wide circulation, and as the matter under discussion is one of great importance, not only in the case of New York Harbor, but in all similar situations, it seems appropriate at this time to consider the facts and the conclusions that have been drawn therefrom by various workers.