Odour control in and around lift stations and waste treatment plants has become an increasingly ubiquitous issue over the past few years. Lift stations are being built within 100 feet of new neighbourhoods. These facilities need to consider removing odours during the design phase or else risk a constant barrage of complaints from new home owners.

Current technologies to mitigate nuisance odours use either chemicals or activated carbon, both of which require regular maintenance and use expensive consumable products. Each year a sizable cost must be budgeted for these consumables. In addition, weather conditions affect the efficacy and efficiency of both of these methods.

There is a new solution for small and medium-sized lift stations that have total contaminant levels ranging from 1-20 parts per million—one that won’t break the bank or oblige maintenance staff to check the status every couple of weeks. The technology of injecting ozone into the foul airstream has long been established and proven in Europe and Asia. This low cost, highly effective method of eliminating wastewater odours is now gaining popularity in North America.

How the System Works

Ozone is generated and blended with the foul airstream in a chamber or exhaust stack that is sized to give it a calculated reaction time. The result is over 95 percent removal of the odour, which is exhausted straight into the atmosphere. The ozone that doesn’t get used simply turns back to oxygen in a matter of minutes, leaving no by-products or residue for disposal.

There are no chemicals going down the drain, no messy carbon to change and no biocides or anaerobic bacteria to increase or decrease the amount of biological activity required. And it is standard practice to maintain the ozone equipment just two or three times per year.

In our next post, we’ll compare the various ozone technologies available on the market today. If you can’t wait, contact us for more information about the Ozonetech solution that we deliver.