FRENCH CREEK WATER POLLUTION CONTROL CENTRE ODOR CONTROL

The French Creek Water Pollution Control Centre is located on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada between Parksville and Qualicum Beach and is near residential areas.The facility now services a design population of 24,000 people and was upgraded in 1995 –1997, in what is referred to as the Stage 2 Expansion.As part of the pre-design work on this expansion, odor mitigation measures were evaluated based on a consideration of process requirements and experience from other facilities, both by Dayton & Knight Ltd. and by other sub-consultants who specialize in odor control. This approach was necessary, because design criteria for odor control and volatile emissions are not currently specified by the Province of British Columbia.This expansion included, converting the existing conventional aerobic digesters to an autothermal thermophilic aerobic digestion (ATAD) system. The ATAD process produces a Class A Biosolids which is available for immediate use as a soil amendment.During design, and following direction from a value engineering review team, the odor control works were split into two phases. It was agreed that some of the odor control works considered in the pre-design may not be necessary and that the most fiscally responsible approach would be to carry out the work in two phases as follows:Phase 1: To be constructed as part of the Stage 2 Expansion work.Phase 2: To be implemented based on the performance of the Phase 1 odor control works. Phase 2 would include odor survey work and the results would be used to design the Phase 2 improvements.This paper reviews the various components associated with both the Phase 1 and Phase 2 odor control works. Key aspects related to the effective management of odor control systems are also discussed.