Network based controller systems for pre-conditioning of waste water in sewer systems

Sewer network odour emissions have become a focus due to environmental regulations and, in the case Hydrogen Sulphide (H2S) induced corrosion, due to safety and sustainability. For these reasons the establishment of emission treatment is recommended. Sewer emission treatment focuses on local solutions rather than sewer-wide network treatment. The dosing of chemicals for this purpose is usually done section-wise. Obviously there is optimization potential when sewers are understood and treated as networks. Preventive treatment can be optimized by information from downstream and curative treatment by information from upstream. Such concepts demand communication technology and monitoring of several parameters at various locations in the sewer network. In the presented case study a digital communications network is used to control H2S emissions and fat, oil and grease (FOG) disposal in a sewer network. Moreover it was shown that technical solutions are available to use sewers as controlled reactors rather than just let them be a source of problems. An overview of today's standard dosing systems and strategies for odour and corrosion control is also given.