No_4_December_1964 — Page 97

14

t

GARBAGE CHUTES MEAN SIMPLE, HYGIENIC DISPOSAL

THE

HE availability of cheap menial labour seems to be the only answer given in Hong Kong to the question of providing modern, hygi- enic garbage disposal amenities in many multi-storey blocks.

Garbage disposal chutes, probably the most practical method, are usually found at two extremes in the new low cost housing settlements and in luxury apartment buildings.

There is rarely an answer to the problem in the majority of middle class buildings. Huge, smelly piles of garbage in open baskets are haul- ed down every day in lifts, and often passenger lifts at that. The con- glomeration of garbage tins on each floor not only lowers the tone of most of these buildings, but from a point of hygiene, leaves much to be desired.

Leading the field in the provision of chutes is the Architectural office of the P.W.D. One of their recently proposed projects, the building of 30 flatted fire stations throughout the Colony (see page ....), will feature a simple garbage chute system. Refuse will empty into a replaceable ground floor bin.

Another form of shute, recently introduced into Hong Kong, features a ground floor incinerator as part of the system.

With means available for incinera- tion within the building, the advant- ages are considerable.

The volume is reduced to approxi- mately 10 to 15 per cent with con- sequent saving in disposal costs.

All the refuse, including non- combustibles such as food cans and bottles, are rendered entirely odour- less and free from bacteria and can be handled with no health risks.

The residues from the incinerator being sterile and containing no com- bustibles, can be used more readily for ground levelling and filling.

The new system has a fully automatic gas fired, incinerator and only requires the attention of a care- taker or janitor once a day to remove the residue in convenient containers.

The incinerator is installed in a basement at the bottom of a charg-

▲ The incinerator chute.

THE HONG KONG & FAR EAST BUILDER-VOLUME 19, NUMBER 4

ing chute running vertically the full height of the building. At each storey there is a hopper into which refuse is fed. The hopper is designed so that bulky objects which might be come caught in the chute cannot be fed in. There is a separate exhaust flue for the waste gases of combus- tion and an exhaust fan to ensure the charging chute is under slight suction so that smoke and fumes cannot enter the building.

The incinerator has a smoke burn off chamber into which all waste gases pass from the main chamber. A water wash chamber in turn re- ceives the waste gases and settles all flying ash in the form of sludge. The amount of matter discharged from the exhaust flue is extremely small and tests show it averages about 0.22 lbs per 100 lbs of refuse charged.

The control system has a 24 hour clock which is usually set to start the incinerator in the morning and close it down in the evening. During the day the sequence timer brings on the main burner at set intervals

gen- erally five to 10 minutes every hour.

At the end of the day's operation there is a 30 minute purging cycle during which the entire equipment shuts off with the exception of the primary burner from which hot gases rise to sterilise the chute walls.

NEW SEAWALL

PREPARATORY

work required

for the construction of the re- maining sections of the new seawall for Hong Kong's Central Reclama- tion Scheme will be carried out short- ly in an area off the Connaught Road seafront.

The work forms part of the second and fourth stages of the Reclamation to the east and west of the Jubilee Street Vehicular Ferry Pier, and in- cludes the dredging of two trenches in the seabed and the filling of the trenches with sand.

Construction of the remaining por- tions of the seawall will start when the dredging work is completed.

91