Smells: MP tours Saltend Waste Water Treatment Works

GRAHAM STUART, MP for Beverley and Holderness has recently toured the waste water treatment works Saltend as a guest of Yorkshire Water officials. The treatment works is one of the biggest in Europe and treats 40 million gallons of waste water every day. It has been a source of controversy in the local HU12 area due to persistent problems with bad smells from the site.

The tour led by Yorkshire Water's chief executive, Richard Flint, on Friday 26th November, was staged to show the MP just how the company plans to reduce odours at the site. Mr Stuart heard more about the company's £3.25million project to tackle odours through the installation of a new, state-of-the-art odour control unit which will be the biggest in the region and twice the size of the current system at the plant.

Construction on the new odour control unit is expected to begin in February 2011 and completed by December in the same year.

The company has recently made a number of changes to the way it manages the day-to-day running of the plant to help minimise odours. These include regular inspections, including carbon sampling to predict potential changes alongside regular maintenance of the current odour control unit to ensure it's performing exactly as it should. Richard Flint, said about the visit:

"We were delighted to welcome Mr Stuart to the works and hope the tour we gave him helped convey just how committed we are to tackling the problems of odours at the site. Due to the sheer size and nature of the works, it's likely that there will always be some odour, but we're confident that our carefully considered investment will ensure we meet industry standards. I'd also like to say thank you to our customers in the area. We recognise the site has had its problems and they've shown a huge amount of patience whilst we've been working on solutions. Now we are in position to make a positive difference and that's exactly what we intend to do."

Customers will be kept up-to-date on the latest progress at the works through opt-in email and text alerts with further details around these being communicated in writing. Yorkshire Water has also said that it will continue with its weekly odour management meetings with environmental health officers from the East Riding of Yorkshire Council and its quarterly liaison meetings with ward and local parish councillors.

For more information on Yorkshire Water's investment into its Saltend works, visit Hull and Saltend News.