Spalding could soon be smelling a whole lot sweeter after repair work is carried out on a damaged sludge tank at the town’s sewage works.
The main sludge tank at the site in West Marsh Road was deemed unsafe earlier this year as it was feared the ceiling could collapse.
The tank had to be taken out of operation and put off limits to engineers until a safe way was devised to go in and assess the damage.
But the use of alternative tanks on the site has been blamed for a rise in complaints to Anglian Water about the nasty niffs which have had Spalding residents holding their noses in disgust as they waft across the neighbouring area.
It is now hoped that equipment will be moved in anytime to enable engineers to get into the tank and determine whether it can be refurbished and put back into operation.
The necessary equipment has been fabricated following a successful request to Anglian Water’s capital approvals group for cash.
Lincolnshire County Council’s environmental scrutiny committee is due to receive a report from Anglian Water’s Lincolnshire tactical support manager Paul Dimbleby when it meets tomorrow, updating members on work to tackle the high level of complaints.
His report will say: “Given the extent of the work required to reinstate the main sludge tank we have installed odour masking sprays which mitigate the odour being released from the temporary sludge handling arrangements. We have positioned these around the functioning sludge tanks to minimise the dispersion of odours to neighbouring customers, such as Greencell, our closest neighbour.
“In the short-term we are also putting in place a system to safely access the valves in the main sludge tank which allows us to return to normal operations.
“This will reduce the customer complaints as it removes the need to store sludge elsewhere on site.
“Given the complex nature of odour creation, finding a solution often requires multiple approaches and therefore we are also tackling the root cause of odours being generated in the Spalding sewerage network.”
He will assure members he is confident odour reduction is being achieved, saying: “We are keen to act as responsible neighbours and remove the odour problems at the Spalding site.”
