Pneumatic / Hydraulic principles

I have been studying old pneumatic sewers from Europe in the 19th century. The one piece that was interesting was the sewage ejector. The ejector consists of a sealed chamber that fills with sewage from a one way valve and a float sensor activates a pressure valve when the tank fills to a certain point. A sparate compression chamber pressurizes the tank and cuase the sewage to be ejected through an outlet pipe, at a higher elevation then its entry into the tank. My interest lies in the compatementilization of the sytem and the use of valves to move a fluid from one place to another: in concept the basis for hydraulics and pneumatics.