Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillor Owen.

The minutes of the meeting held on 8 July 2015 were agreed.

There were no matters arising.

Jay Harris reported on the following updates since the last meeting:

·         There had been two cable failures since the last meeting on the primary scraper tanks 2 and 3.  In addition, the cable duct that runs the length of the tank to pull the scraper along had failed last week.  Each failure required a drain down of the tank which provided a risk of odour.  A text to customers had been sent out on 13 November to advise of the situation.   A new duct would be installed and it was anticipated that these works would be completed by the end of next week.  Three complaints had been received by Exeter City Council over this period.

·         The Persimmon Pump Station had been transferred from the developer to South West Water.  Tracey Hill reported that she had met with Persimmon’s Customer Care Team and Chief Engineer to discuss referral of any complaints.

·         Reference was made to sewer complaints at the junction of Topsham Road/Admiral Way.  The chain from the sewer would be removed to stop the build up of rag waste which was a potential source of odour.

·         A replacement cover on the Countess Wear playing field manhole had been fitted.

·         Works to the sludge lagoon wall reported at the last meeting had been completed.

·         A funding request had been submitted for boundary odour control products.

·         Works were continuing on the new coarse screen which is being installed on the 54” inlet sewer.  Some trees had been removed to enable these works and also as a result of the flood defence work.  The coarse screen will reduce the build up of rag waste and it was anticipated that it will be operational by June 2016.  Jay suggested that the contractor could provide an update on how the scheme will work at the next meeting.

Jay also reported on the following projects:

·         A new additional thickener on the digestive sludge which will provide duty and standby facilities. 

·         Refurbishment of the grit traps.

·         Work was ongoing to improve the regulation of flow on the site.  The works will recirculate flows from the bottom to the top end of the site to dilute flows at times of low flow and high loading.  It was anticipated this would be completed by Summer 2016.

The complaints report was noted.

The maintenance team inspected the site on a continuous cycle.

A discussion was held on communication to residents and that some residents had become complacent in submitting complaints.   It was felt that communications to residents should be more prescriptive and in layman’s terms.

There were currently no plans for the Proactive Team to be available over weekends and evenings.  Any complaints outside of normal office hours should be made to the main switchboard on 0844 3462020 where the duty manager will be called to check the site.  The Proactive Team number 07779 606026 should be called during office hours.  The out of hours complaints will be logged but it would be useful if complainants could also send a text to the mobile number to ensure this is passed on and can be followed up.  Complainants to Exeter City Council can also be asked if they are happy for their details to be passed on to SWW.

To date 56 complaints had been received this year compared to 85 in 2014.  The SWW complaints procedure would need to be exhausted before they can be escalated via OFWAT.

Kevin Bingham reported that up until the recent cable failures there had been an improvement in odours since the last meeting.

Reference was made to the odour survey carried out by Cornwall College which recommended the planting of trees.  Jay advised that this would be looked at further.

Mary Evans referred to the problems reported at the last meeting on the green sludge accumulating on the public right of way in the Newport Park area.  Nigel Thomas-Childs and Tracey Hill would arrange to meet with the complainant.

A tour of the site followed the meeting.

The date of the next meeting was agreed as Wednesday 10 February 2016 at 2.30pm.