Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Simon Ruddy, Mary Evans, Kevin Bingham and Jo Quinnell.

The minutes of the meeting on 14 September were agreed.

Nigel Thomas-Childs has spoken again to the complainant who is concerned about sludge from the sewage works outfall.  Nick Murch advised that this has been checked and confirmed it is not sewage sludge.  The complainant was offered a tour of the site but refused. 

SWW have still not received the odour survey report that they were expecting by the end of September. The Chair asked them to ensure that this is submitted to ECC and the EA for discussion as soon as possible.

Nigel Thomas-Childs also reminded SWW that the site’s odour management plan (OMP) should be updated as a result of the odour survey. Nick Murch will send a copy of the current OMP to Nigel Thomas-Childs, and agreed that this would be reviewed in light of the findings of the odour survey.

There have been no scraper blade breakdowns since the last meeting, and the replanting after the flood defence scheme works has taken place.

Steven Bird has written to Ben Bradshaw committing SWW to the refurbishment of all four primary tanks. The works will involve replacing the coping to the tanks and relaying the tracks that the scrapers run on. The scum removal equipment will also be replaced. Each tank will take about three months to complete and cost around £250,000. SWW will start with tank number 2, which is thought to be the least reliable. They hope to start the works in early 2017 and complete all tanks by the end of the year.

Nigel Thomas-Childs asked what the implications of the works on odour would be. Nick Murch said that the tanks would be drained and then cleaned in a controlled manner so odour should be significantly less than when the tanks were out of commission for emergency repairs. There was still the potential for problems if another tank broke down while one was being refurbished.

A UV system is also to be added to the overflow from the storm water tanks to the river, but this should not affect odour from the site.

SWW have no date yet for connection of Seabrook Orchards to mains sewer. Nick Murch will check the operating level of the pump once it is connected to make sure that it is appropriate.

There have only been a small number of complaints since the last meeting. SWW consider that given the isolated nature of these they may be from the network rather than the sewage treatment works. A complaint about odour regularly at 11pm from one individual is being investigated as a local issue with the network since no SWW activities correspond with the timing of this complaint.

Work in the sheep field is ongoing. Planning permission for houses on this land has been granted, and can be implemented within the next three years.

Councillor Newby asked whether ECC were maintaining the pumping station at Reed Walk.  Alex Bulleid will ask the Housing Department for an update on this before the next meeting.

Nigel Thomas-Childs noted that during the fire at the Royal Clarence none of the fire water run-off went via surface water drains to the river. It all went to the sewage works were it did not affect the treatment process. This was an example of good partnership working between the organisations involved.

Alex Bulleid and Nigel-Thomas Childs re-iterated the need for SWW to submit the odour survey to ECC and the EA as soon as possible, and to update the OMP accordingly.

The date of the next meeting would be arranged in due course.