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WHY ODOUR MONITORING IS IMPORTANT

WHY ODOUR MONITORING IS IMPORTANT

Odour monitoring is an important part of ongoing best practice for odour

ODOUR MONITORING

Odour monitoring is important if you operate a site that produces emissions. Many of our clients learn this from third parties. For example, regulators, planning authorities, architects or legal counsel. But, being proactive can reap rewards. This article explains the significance of odour monitoring and its potential benefits. We also give an overview of the services available, including which are best suited to your needs.
 
Crucially, we present three essential questions for you to think about. The answers will help you make informed decisions about your odour monitoring requirements.
  1. Why do I need to monitor odour?

  2. Why is odour monitoring important?

  3. Which odour services are best for me?

1. WHY DO I NEED TO MONITOR ODOUR?

As a starting point, it is crucial to consider your objectives. They will help inform the approach you take. Generally speaking, there are three reasons you might be looking into odour monitoring.

Planning

Planning applications will usually require evidence of suitable odour monitoring and considerationIn the planning stages of a new development, you must consider its potential odour impact. Usually, planning authorities will demand evidence that you have done so. This is because odour emissions can affect potential residents and nearby communities. In turn, this may result in legal consequences.

To begin monitoring odour for planning, take a look at these helpful references:

Permit Compliance & Operational Best Practice

Regular monitoring of the site is best practice and may form part of your environmental permit Odour monitoring can help you assess how effective your odour control measures are. Regular checks will help you prevent or promptly address any issues. Consider nominating specific staff members to track perceived odour levels around your site. Regular and consistent monitoring should form part of your best practice measures. It may also form an odour condition in your environmental permit.

The Environment Agency offers comprehensive advice on how to comply with your environmental permit in their H4 Odour Management guidance.

Complaints Management

Your goal may be to understand an existing problem, perhaps in response to nuisance complaintsIf you have received odour complaints, your goal might be to understand the source of the problem. Odour monitoring can provide the answers you need. You can then use the knowledge to enhance your odour management strategy. Additionally, demonstrating a successful response to complaints may be useful in court proceedings. Proactively addressing odour problems can also help you build relationships with the community. In turn, this will benefit your site’s reputation.

I have engaged Silsoe Odours for a series of odour investigations relating to ongoing legal proceedings with a neighbour at one of our sites. The team are always professional and willing to oblige. I would be happy to recommend their services.
RODDY McDONALD, SCOTTISH WATER

2. WHY IS ODOUR MONITORING IMPORTANT?

As we said above, odour monitoring is something you might be thinking about because you have to. Perhaps you have received odour complaints. Or, you may have received advice from the regulator or planning authority.

Typically, operators must adhere to odour conditions outlined in their environmental permits. This means that you are probably already in breach of your permit when you notice a problem. The same holds for planning applications. You will likely need to provide evidence that you have considered odour. Neglecting this step could lead to frustrating delays in the future.

Thinking about odour monitoring early will save you time, money and effort later.

Integrate odour monitoring into your daily best practices and permit compliance activity. By doing so, you will always have the facts to hand. As a result, you can address any problems before they escalate.

3. WHICH ODOUR SERVICES ARE BEST FOR ME?

Odour Sampling & Measurement

Ideally, you will include regular sampling and measurement in your ongoing activity. It will form part of your ‘best practice’ odour monitoring. You should also include it in your odour management plan. The goal is to identify which processes are performing well and where you might need to act. In doing so, you can fix problems before they escalate. You can also use it as evidence of permit compliance with the regulator.
 
Having said that, it is not always practical to track odour as a matter of course. And sometimes, issues crop up despite your best efforts. In these cases, you may receive nuisance complaints. Odour sampling and measurement can help you confirm these complaints. We will provide detailed data to clarify your findings. This can be useful for the regulator and during legal proceedings later on.

Our odour consultants at Silsoe Odours conduct UKAS-accredited odour sampling and measurement. We can assess samples for several things. The most popular measurements we conduct are odour concentration, intensity and characterisation. But we can also look at chemical analysis, odour detection threshold and hedonic tone.

‘Sniff Survey’ Odour Monitoring

Sniff surveys can be carried out by internal staffAnother valuable way to monitor odour is with ‘sniff surveys’. This type of survey assesses the impact of your odour sources in the surrounding area. It relies on the human nose, which provides the most accurate measure of odour. Our specialist team conduct the surveys and produce effective and reliable results. Sniff surveys are valuable when you need to monitor an odour source but cannot access the site. Or, when there is more than one possible odour source.

Odour Sensitivity Testing – for ongoing monitoring

You can attend the Silsoe Odours laboratory for odour sensitivity testing.Building regular odour monitoring into your daily best practice activity is essential. Give this responsibility to a few specific staff members. This will give you better consistency in your results. It also shows good practice to the regulator.

It is even better if monitoring staff comply with European odour standard BSEN13725. You can ensure this with odour sensitivity (or acuity) testing. This is a quick, cost-effective session in our UKAS-accredited laboratory in Bedfordshire. They will learn their individual sensitivity to odour, compared to the general population.

Planning Surveys

You will need to support any planning applications with an odour risk assessment. This should consider potential odour impacts on residents, and the neighbouring area. Planning law aims to limit possible odour impacts at the first opportunity. This is to prevent future odour problems for the development and surrounding community.

You will be especially interested in paragraph 182 of the National Planning Policy Framework. It reads:

Planning policies and decisions should ensure that new development can be integrated effectively with existing businesses and community facilities (such as places of worship, pubs, music venues and sports clubs). Existing businesses and facilities should not have unreasonable restrictions placed on them as a result of development permitted after they were established. Where the operation of an existing business or community facility could have a significant adverse effect on new development (including changes of use) in its vicinity, the applicant (or ‘agent of change’) should be required to provide suitable mitigation before the development has been completed.

Dispersion Modelling

Odour dispersion models are helpful during the planning stages of development. Our odour consultants will provide you with a mathematical model. This is usually based on odour-sampling survey results. The model will show how odours from your proposed developments are likely to impact the area.
Alternatively, dispersion modelling can show how nearby odour sources could impact your development. You can also use them to check how effective different types of odour abatement equipment may be.

Smoke Testing

Smoke testing

A key aspect of odour control is ‘odour-proof’ buildings and containers. It is good practice to monitor these structures for leaks using smoke testing. This will help identify weak points where odour might escape. Smoke testing is also effective when you suspect a leak but cannot locate the source. Or, when there is leakage occurring between rooms. Our odour consultants fill the space with visible oil vapour ‘smoke’. They are then able to see precisely where any smoke emerges. As a result, you can take remedial action and monitor leakage sites for any future odour escape.

ODOUR MONITORING NEAR ME

No matter your objectives, we can assist you with odour monitoring, wherever you are in the UK and Ireland. We operate independently and have a small but skilled team of odour consultants. Our team holds UKAS accreditation for odour measurement and sampling. So, you can rely on the accuracy and reliability of our results.
 
To contact our team, you can either call us on 01525 860222 or click the link below. We are happy to talk through any questions you may have and advise you on the best solution for your needs.

Updated 10th October 2023

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