Agenda and minutes

Councillor Robson was elected as Chair.

Apologies were received from Councillor Owen, Nigel Thomas-Childs, Ian Ward and Charlotte Quantick.

The minutes of the meeting held on 18 March 2015 were agreed.

There were no matters arising.

Jay Harris reported on the following:

·         the majority of chains from the sewers had been removed to stop the build up of rag waste.  There were three remaining at the junction with Topsham Road where traffic management was required.

·         The Persimmon Pump Station had yet to be transferred from the developer to South West Water due to a Land Registry issue.  It was anticipated that the hand over would take place before the next meeting, and Jay would advise Environmental Health when this had taken place.

·         An investigation had taken place following a complaint of odour from a manhole on the playing field that is on the sewer from Topsham.  The cover needs to be replaced as it is not sitting well within the frame, but there were access issues onto the playing field – permission was being sought from Exeter College who own the site.

·         A scraper fail had been reported on the day of the last meeting.  The tanks were drained on 30/31 March and the repair was completed on 17 April.

·         There had been some slippage of the sludge lagoon wall.  Although this was a significant operational issue, there were no concerns from an odour perspective.  The amount of sludge through the digesters had been reduced, but this can run through the lime plant.  Repairs had commenced but there were health and safety issues around accessing an open tank.  It was anticipated that the digesters would be fully operational by the end of the following week.

·         There had been a failure on scraper tank 3 on 22 May but this was back in operation within a week.

·         The grit traps had been cleaned

·         Sewer cleaning had taken place for flood defence work

·         There had been intermittent control issues for Scraper 2 on 24 June.  This had been resolved on the same day, but there had been a risk of odour for approximately two days after completion.  It was noted that some complaints had been received the day before the failure.

·         There was a control issue on the liming plant on 30 June where raw sludge had been dumped on the concrete outside the barn.

·         The aeration tanks had been drained down for planned maintenance which started on 5 July.   Following refill, some of the diffusers had risen to the surface and the tank had to be re-drained.  It was anticipated that it would be fully operational on 9 July, and noted that this should not cause an odour.

·         Skip covers had been installed, as this was causing a slight odour

·         The company that supplies the deodorisers had visited the site last week to quote for the provision of more permanent installation around the boundary and where the tankers discharge.  The final quotes were awaited.

Jay Harris also reported on planned capital investment.

The sludge reception area would continue to be dosed.

A new coarse screen is to be installed on the 54” inlet sewer.  Currently there is no coarse screening on this inlet, only on the 27”.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14.

The complaints report was noted and a list of additional complaints since the agenda was dispatched was circulated and would be attached to the minutes.

There had been an increase in complaints in June, although there were no significant operational issues which contributed to the odours.

Outline planning permission was due to be submitted by Exeter College to build at Countess Wear.  However, Jay advised that SWW was likely to submit an objection, not from a capacity issue, but as properties were being built close to the sewage works and the potential for odours.  There will also be a requirement to divert a pipe due to restrictions preventing from building over it.

A Supply and Demand Evaluation for Countess Wear was completed in 2012 with a design horizon of 2026.  This report recommended that additional treatment capacity would be required on both the waste water and sludge process and this has been delivered.

Jay would check that the sewers had been cleaned in relation to the problems identified by three houses in Lower Wear Road.

The Proactive Team are in place on a trial basis and this will be reviewed after the summer period.  The group considered that this had proved very successful, particularly communication to residents.

A discussion was held on the availability of the Proactive Team over weekends and evenings.  At present there is no cover, and responses are provided to residents on the next working day.

Jay Harris advised that he would investigate further on how to improve evening and weekend coverage.

Tracey Hill advised that they were looking at holding more community events, possibly over the weekend period to get more resident engagement.

The Proactive Team number is 07779 606026.

Mary Evans reported on problems of green sludge accumulating on the public right of way in the Newport Park area.  She felt it would be useful for a representative from Environment Agency to meet with the complainant.  Jay Harris would pass details on to Nigel Thomas-Childs.

The date of the next meeting was agreed as Wednesday 14 October at 2.30pm.