A practical framework using odor survey data to prioritize nuisance odors.
There are three main questions that need to be answered to address nuisance odors at the fenceline of a wastewater treatment plant: What odors are occurring at the fenceline of the plant? What processes within the plant give rise to these odors? What priority should we assign to mitigation of the nuisance odors? The prioritization is based on three factors that make odors a nuisance: strength or intensity of the odor when it is detected; quality or description of the odor; persistence or occurrence of the odor at the fenceline. Since fenceline odors vary according to: wind direction; wind speed; atmospheric stability and obstructions (buildings, trees, roadways), this study conducted odor surveys at the fenceline of a wastewater plant between April and November for 20 surveys. The data were used to develop a practical framework in three steps: summarize fenceline (residential vs non-residential) odor survey data; use odor type category and average odor strength to determine the annoyance factor; use annoyance factor and fenceline occurrence to determine the priority rating for nuisance odors to be mitigated.
Burlingame
G A
GA
Philadelphia Water Department, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. gary.burlingame@phila.gov
D001272:Atmosphere; D003625:Data Collection; D006801:Humans; D009812:Odorants / Q000032:analysis*; D018508:Water Purification