Odour management of a wastewater treatment works with a history of odour complaints: PRESENTATION ONLY
Vasileios Mathioudakis, Yorkshire Water
(free)
The presentation shares the approach Yorkshire Water has taken to mitigate the odour impacts of a Wastewater Treatment Works (WwTW) that historically has led to odour complaints. The approach focused on identifying the root causes, optimizing existing assets and providing additional capital investment to minimize customer impacts to customers. The initial findings indicated that odour complaints were mainly related to non-optimized operation of chemical dosing systems for septicity control of multiple rising mains that discharge into the works, extensive onsite sludge storage retention time and inadequate maintenance of available gas phase odour control systems (OCUs).
The operational interventions included reducing the onsite sludge storage retention and process optimization of the septicity control dosing systems. Additionally, with the aim to further reduce site odour emissions, one of the primary sedimentation tanks (PSTs) was taken out of service, after a process assessment indicated no actual benefit in operating with all available PSTs.
Use of odour dispersion modelling with inputs from site specific olfactometry data confirmed the initial assumptions and identified the required capital investment to ensure acceptable levels of odour concentrations at nearby receptors. The identified capital investment included installation of new covers, coupled with gas phase odour treatment, at the works’ inlet balance tank and sludge storage tank. Additionally, as the odour survey indicated that the sludge export tankering activity could significantly contribute to odours through the tank gas vent, a facility to vent the odorous gas back to the odour-controlled sludge tank was included.
The above interventions were further supported through a new odour management plan that included clear instructions to operational staff on odour related activities as well as indicating expected performance from all associated odour abatement assets. The approach demonstrates how operational optimization of existing assets and an efficient odour management plan can improve operational odour performance from WwTWs and control capital investment costs.
- Site odour survey to identify root causes coupled with operational odour abatement asset optimization.
- Use of odour dispersion modelling to develop suitable technical capital solution after operational interventions.
- Odour management plan development to support operational site activities and teams.
