THE LATEST update from Yorkshire Water Smell (posted on their Hull & Saltend News):
“Over the weekend we carried out some operations to try to improve the flow of waste water through the site. Following the complaints we had received as always we investigated them and during this we found that there were low flows in two of our open air tanks which can lead to reduced odours. We took action over the weekend to increase the flow of water and organic matter (bugs) to breakdown the concentrated waste water which could have been causing odours in those tanks.
This work can sometimes itself cause a smell and will take a few days to take full effect whilst the organic matter starts to multiply. However, the longer-term effects should be to reduce odour.
Over the weekend we received 14 contacts about odour at the site. In the last two days we have received four contacts.
Both mobile Odour Control Units are now fully operational and are covering the work done by the unit that was damaged in the recent fire. We are also using the deodorising sprays around the perimeter fence to help mask any odours as they reach the site boundaries.”
After a particularly bad few days of foul odours, the nuisance has prompted at least two local people to offer invites to Yorkshire Water investors to stop at their homes so that they can experience the bad smells themselves. Other residents have proposed a blockade or protest at the gates of the Saltend Waste Water Treatment Works site…. this demonstrates the anger that is steadily building in local communities!
In response to those that are finding the two phone numbers – Yorkshire Water on their Customer Helpline on 0845 1 24 24 24 and East Riding Council on 01482 396301 – difficult to get through to, then the Hedon Blog would encourage complaints to be also e-mailed to Environmental Health Officers at East Riding Council pollution.control@eastriding.gov.uk when nobody is there to answer the phones.
FixMyStreet was also used in 2011 to report odour complaints in a very public way!
Latest from Yorkshire Water today (23rd August 2013):
UPDATE – Friday 23 August 2013
Following the completion of the work mentioned in last week’s update, the biological treatment process continues to recover and the odour mitigation measures are working well.
We have not received any odour complaints so far this week, which is a positive sign after recent weeks and we would like to apologise to customers for the inconvenience caused and thank them for their patience whilst the work to rectify the problem was carried out.
We continue to review the site’s performance and will provide a further update in due course.
Customers should continue to report any odours to our helpline on 08451 24 24 24.
UPDATE from Yorkshire Water Hull & Saltend News on Wednesday 14th August 2013:
“As mentioned in our previous updates, a routine but detailed investigation into one of the odour complaints found an issue which reduced our treatment capacity by 25% and in turn resulted in overloading of the biological treatment process.
“We rectified this problem very quickly but the biological treatment process was compromised and the recovery process can take time. We constantly monitor the performance of the bio treatment and are taking all steps to ensure it recovers as soon as possible.
“However, we are aware that whilst the process is recovering there is an increased risk of odours escaping beyond the site boundary. Under normal circumstances this biological process would not be a source of odour and therefore the site odour mitigation systems are not designed to control these emissions. All of our odour mitigation measures are working well and other aspects of the site are performing well.
“We apologise that our processes have not operated as reliably as we would like and that this has impacted on our customers. We would like to assure you that we are undertaking a full review of the site’s performance, focusing on the root cause of the mechanical failures, and will look to implement changes to our operations to prevent a re-occurrence.”
THE LATEST on the Hull & Saltend News web-page:
UPDATE – Friday 9 August 2013
“As you may be aware we now have in place the two temporary odour control units to fully odour control the parts of the works covered by the fire damaged unit.
During our investigations two weeks ago into likely causes of odour at the site we found a potential source and chose to tackle it by increasing the flows of water and organic matter through two of our open air tanks. We carried out this work last week and unfortunately the actual process of flushing through can in the very short-term increase odours. We received 20 complaints about odour during last week mostly during the time we were carrying out this work.
So far this week there have been seven odour complaints received. The new organic matter which breaks down the bugs that can cause odour in the tanks takes a few days to become fully active. We are hoping that customers will start to experience a noticeable reduction in odours in the next few days as the matter starts to work.
We continue to use deodorising sprays to mask odours as they reach the perimeter of our site and we will continue to do everything we can from an operational perspective to tackle odours on what is a priority works for us.” – Yorkshire Water