© 2001 Ecolo Odor Control Systems |
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ECOLO Investigates … Wastewater Treatment Problem A Pollution Control Plant has stored their sludge by-product on site for several years with little or no odor problems or complaints. In the past two years serious odor complaints began due to several unforeseen problems. The first problem was distribution. Unfortunately the last two seasons were very wet, and farmers were unable to spread the sludge, as they normally would have done in the past. The second problem was the increased amount of sludge being produced and stored at the site. The sludge that was stored on site was now coming from two facilities. The two problems in combination created a concentrated odor problem. It was at this point that a large public outcry occurred. The people that lived nearby were very upset and in turn placed pressure on the facility. Solution The politicians from the city then developed a long-term plan to rid this area of the sludge overload. The plan included a pelletization plant to reprocess and reduce the sludge, as well as a distribution plan to send the final product to area landfills. Unfortunately this project involved a 12-24 month development schedule and the odor problem remained. To solve the problem Ecolo was consulted. A 26 nozzle system was then recommended and installed. Driven by an EP-60, the nozzles were set up in an alternating two tiered perimeter arrangement, along one side of the sludge storage pile, orthogonal to the direction of the prevailing winds. A new airSolution was then developed at the Ecolo Lab to neutralize the sludge odor. After several bench tests a new formulation was conceived and found to work very effectively. Conclusion `When the Ecolo Odor Control System was installed, complaints stopped immediately. The community was very pleased and this gave the politicians the time that they required to complete their long term disposal solution. |
