ABSTRACT
The remarkable sensitivity of the human nose to detect a large number of chemicals by smell means that traditional odour monitoring methods are costly either in capital (chemical analysis) or labour (olfactometry). Not least among the problems in achieving worthwhile results is the difficulty in representative sampling. This difficulty is greatly magnified in sewage treatment and agriculture by the diffuse nature of the odour sources.
A method is proposed to assess the ’Odour Potential’ of slurries and sludges by sampling in the liquid phase, followed by extraction of odorous components under reproducible conditions. The approach has inherent advantages in providing speedy and less costly information for the prediction of odour nuisance, scheduling land disposal, and for comparing methods of sludge treatment and stabilisation.
