ABSTRACT
The concept of grinder pressure sewers was first proposed by Dr. Gordon M. Fair, Professor of Sanitary Engineering at Harvard University, in 1954. The first published experience in the design and installation of pressure sewers came from an engineer in Kentucky who designed a pressure sewer system for installation in a section of Radcliffe, Kentucky. In 1966, the American Society of Civil Engineers initiated a study under a federal grant in an attempt to prove Dr. Gordon M. Fair's theory concerning pressure sewers. However, the report did state that small-diameter, low-pressure sewer systems offered a potential cost-effective alternative to conventional gravity sewers, especially where installation of gravity sewers was considered uneconomical or infeasible. Based on the performance of grinder and effluent pumps in this demonstration pressure sewer system, the design engineer subsequently recommended that septic tank effluent pumping be used in future pressure sewer installations.
