Title: War Surgery and Medicine

Author: Stout, T. Duncan M.

Publication details: Historical Publications Branch, 1954, Wellington

Part of: The Official History of New Zealand in the Second World War 1939–1945

This text is the subject of: ‘Something of Them Is Here Recorded’: Official History in New Zealand

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Disposal of Sullage Water

A major difficulty which needed to be overcome in Maadi Camp was the drainage and disposal of sullage water, as the ground was impermeable rock strata with only a shallow covering of sand. Several methods were tried, but after some months the only satisfactory means was found in the use of evaporation pans. These evaporation pans were made about sixty feet square, and in sets of four. They were fed with sullage water which had previously passed through grease traps. The method of operation was to flood two pans to a depth of about six inches, which water would evaporate in a day; then the other two pans would be flooded, while the dried deposit in the first pair was scraped up and sent to the incinerator. A later modification was to cultivate each pan, growing eucalyptus trees and crops such as cabbages, tomatoes, maize, etc. With a very large grease trap about 100 feet long, it was found that not much grease passed into the pans, and this did not interfere with evaporation or become a nuisance provided it was dug in sufficiently often to prevent fly-breeding. The pans were on the perimeter of the camp, so that all the water from cookhouses had to be piped to them through cement pipes and a close watch kept for any leaks.