You have the (bad) smells of the wastewater treatment plant in a nutshell, become a “nose” tracker of nuisances
Ginestous and bad smells, it’s a long story that has not escaped any Toulousain during his passage near
the wastewater treatment plant, installed next to the device. According to the winds, on match days at Ernest-Wallon, Stade Toulousain supporters stop their noses, and for their part, residents dream of no longer having to do it early in the morning.
To limit these odor nuisances, in September 2020, a vast plan to modernize the wastewater treatment plant was launched and should be completed next year. It is accompanied by an odor reduction program. It must be said that every day, the site treats 160,000 m3 of effluvia produced by 950,000 inhabitants of the Toulouse metropolis.
After removing the sludge, now transformed by methanization, the fumes have been reduced. They should be even less intense at the end of next year when the entire improvement project is completed. But persist from time to time. “For three weeks, a lot of smells have been circulating. Something is certainly happening and should be aware, ”points out Régis Mirabel, a member of the Minimes-Barrière neighborhood committee in Paris, member of the monitoring committee for the Ginestous site.
Real-time training and application
As part of the odor reduction plan, sensors have been installed to trace the origin of the scent, but Toulouse Métropole water, the site manager via its delegatee Suez, decided to appeal to the sense of smell of local residents by creating a nose jury. She thus recruits a
twenty volunteers, ready to track odor nuisance. “We are going to the elders to recognize the smells in November. Thanks to an application they can declare and say where they are protected and at what time they felt it. For our part, this will allow us to see if there was an incident at that precise moment and to be able to investigate the cause, ”explains Cécilia Cazaban, communications manager at Eau de Toulouse Métropole, who formerly also works alongside her agents. .
?? # EauDeToulouseMetropole recruit a Nose Jury 👃: volunteer citizens who will be trained in odor recognition, in order to be able to identify and declare them in real time 📲 pic.twitter.com/hDULbOgOZ5
– Cecilia Cazaban (@CeciliaCazaban) 20 October 2021
An experience of the same type had already been reported in 2006, at a time when odor nuisance was more important, without really bearing fruit. If this “nose jury” is a step forward for local residents, it should not mask the goal of “zero odors” presented in 2018 either.
“Fifty years ago, around the Ginestous station, it was the countryside. Since then, there has been a significant development of urbanization. What matters to us is the safety and health of the inhabitants who are nearby and to know the progress of work for the treatment of polluted air ”, concludes Marcel Martin from the Ginestous 2000 collective and member of the Sept-Deniers neighborhood committee.