Where conventional technology would fail

In our previous article we analysed the results of an odour reduction study that measured and evaluated whether our odour control units really work effectively against the pungent odours generated in the plastics industry.

Now we show how Telepszagtalanítás performed at a wastewater pumping station, where an effective way to eliminate sewage odour had long been sought.

What was the problem?

Our partner company's wastewater pumping station is located in a small commuter-belt municipality. Although the facility does not cause a constant odour nuisance, at certain times of day – for example in the morning and evening – a sudden, unpleasant stench spreads across the neighbourhood. At these times the gases accumulated in the sewer system are suddenly released to the surface, causing an unpleasant experience for local residents.

How can sewage odour that appears in bursts, but is all the more unpleasant for it, be neutralised effectively yet cheaply?

Where conventional technology would fail

For odours like these, which occur intermittently and in small air volumes, high-capacity odour control systems would be too expensive and oversized, especially when the municipality is the investor. That is why a new, targeted solution was needed.

The solution: a cost-effective, Hungarian-developed misting system

We installed Telepszagtalanítás's own compact system at the wastewater pumping station, which can provide effective atomisation even at household water pressure (2–4 bar). The unit operates with minimal water consumption (10–20 litres/hour), so it is not only effective but also extremely economical.

"This system intervenes exactly where and when it is needed – it does not require a large investment, yet it brings a striking improvement for a liveable environment."– said the Telepszagtalanítás expert.

Test results

The system's performance was confirmed by laboratory measurements. The odour concentration measured at the pumping shaft before the intervention was 2533 OU/m³. After the intervention it was only 28 OU/m³ at the nearest measuring point, which means an odour reduction of more than 90%. What is more, the previously unpleasant sewage odour was replaced by a mild, neutral scent.

Three odour samples were taken from the headspace of the sewage shaft, and a further 3 samples each were taken downwind next to the shaft: in one case with the odour control unit switched off, so that no odour control concentrate was released into the air, and in the other case with the unit running and spraying odour control agent into the air.

During sampling, the main climatic parameters were also measured and recorded (air temperature and relative humidity, wind speed and wind direction).

As the data in the table above show, the study clearly established that the odour control unit changed the unpleasant, penetrating odour of the air it treated, so that the treated air instead had a mild chemical scent.

The average expected odour reduction efficiency set in such studies is 90%, but in this case the efficiency was even higher: to be precise, our system achieved an odour reduction efficiency of 98.9% , which is a great result, especially because nothing had previously succeeded in neutralising the sewage odour at the small-town site.