SCRUBBER  ABSORBER        NEWSLETTER               

                                                                                                                  January 2005
                                                                                                                         No. 367

Volunteers Recruited for Wastewater Treatment Plant Odor Panel

As part of a plan to address complaints about odors from a wastewater treatment plant, Concord, NH officials have hired Fay, Spofford and Thorndike to identify and quantify exactly what smells are bothering residents.

As part of their research, they will recruit several dozen volunteers to help distinguish the smells that most irritate people in the area.

In the 23 years since the Hall Street plant opened, city officials have tried several times to rid Concord of the smells coming from it. This time officials expect to spend more than $1 million on a permanent solution.

Volunteer sniffers will be trained by the engineering firm to identify smells, then will be asked to keep records of what odors they detect and when.

During the early 1990s, the city spent $500,000 on a system that used chemicals to reduce odors at the plant. A few years later the city spent another $500,000 on a system to trap smells.

In 2000, the plant got a $1.4-million odor scrubber. Two years ago, the city made a $5-million upgrade in the way it processed the wastewater into sludge. That was supposed to make the smells go away.

But complaints persisted and last year the city spent another $100,000 to add a fan, water tank and network of pipes intended to trap the odors.

Interim findings from the new study are expected in February, with a final report due next fall.

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