Review of odour abatement in sewer networks

Abstract

Increasing urban growth and lifestyle expectations have led to an increase in public complaints against odours from sewer infrastructure. Gas phase odour abatement in sewer networks, particularly at sewer pumping stations, is most commonly achieved by using biofilters, biotrickling filters or activated carbon filters. Bench-scale and lab-scale studies tend to only investigate single contaminants under static conditions and typically at higher concentrations than found in field emissions. This review compares the performance of field-based gas phase abatement where the type and concentration of contaminants, along with operating parameters, vary considerably. The literature shows good performance by all technologies for hydrogen sulfide removal, with varying performance of other volatile sulfur and volatile organic compounds across all technologies. In particular, most technologies poorly remove or sometimes release halogenated compounds. Poor consistency is also found in the removal efficiency of many contaminants among the reviewed studies. There is a general lack of long-term performance data for activated carbon filters, compared to other technologies, with most studies investigating performance only at, or shortly after, start-up. Odour abatement in sewer networks can be improved with better understanding of inlet conditions to target the type of technology, operating parameters and the provision of multiple operating stages where the inlet conditions are poorly understood.