The installation yields from 12 to 15 tons of grease throughout the
twenty-four hours, working, of course, being continuous. This product
in the days before the war commanded from £8 to £10--$40 to $50--per
ton, but the price is now higher. The sludge-cakes find favour as a
fertilizer, mainly from the fact that they are free from lime and
carry only from 28 per cent. to 30 per cent. of moisture. This residue
fetched from 3s.--75 cents--upwards per ton at the works in pre-war
days, when a healthy export was recorded, the product being shipped
in appreciable quantities to France and even to the Southern States
of America. The output of cake averages from 50 to 60 tons per day.
In addition to proving useful as a fertilizer it has been found to
furnish, when blended with coal-dust, a serviceable fuel.
The revenue derived from this example of sewage industry is certainly
such as to attract widespread attention. In the early days of the
process, when only two presses were maintained to establish its
possibilities, the grease sales reached £222 10s. 6d.--$1,112.62--per
annum. In 1911 the annual revenue had risen to a figure ranging between
£20,000 and £30,000--$100,000 and $150,000--from the enlarged battery
of presses. When the new works were opened it was anticipated that the
Corporation would be deriving £50,000--$250,000--a year from the sale
of the products derived from its sewage upon the attainment of the
designed maximum output. Up to the year 1911 the total sales amounted
to no less than £100,000--$500,000. From the recital of these figures
it must be conceded that Bradford has a very profitable commercial
enterprise in its sewage works.
Yet even the foregoing figures are undoubtedly capable of improvement
owing to the advances made in the whole issue of the recovery of fats
from wastes. The pressing system, even when conducted along the most
modern lines with up-to-date plant, leaves much to be desired in point
of yield. Under the most favourable pressing conditions at least 10
per cent. of the original volume of grease is left in the residue. The
presence of this grease reacts against the value of the residue as a
fertilizer, grease being the bugbear of the farmer. With the latest
process for grease extraction this content can be reduced down to 1 per
cent. Not only does this represent an increased yield of 9 per cent.
of fat with its attendant enhanced financial return, but it gives a
fertilizer which, being exceedingly low in fat, appeals more strongly
to the farmer, and accordingly is able to command a higher price. This
fact appears to have become appreciated by the Bradford authorities
according to recent developments.