RA Dalton Success Stories

To ensure a site is environmentally conscious and proactive in their ways of handling the every day function of their wastewater setup and potentially any issues that may occur, an Environmental Management system can help aid the efficiency of your site.

It may be the case that if your Environment Agency Permit was issued after 2008 you will be required as part of your conditions to have an EMS in place. This will need to be located on site at all times and regularly updated with the relevant information.

Even if your Permit was in place prior to 2008 it is good practise to have an EMS available at all times, this gives a singular document store with all the valuable information associated with the system you have installed.

As an Environmental Management system file houses all the most important information in relation the wastewater setup on your site it is a valuable tool for residents/ staff members to refer to if something doesn’t quite appear right.

This file should also include all the necessary contacts for emergencies and who is responsible for what on site.

It can also benefit you if the Environment Agency visit site to have this on hand with all the up to date and comprehensive documents in place. This will provide all the necessary evidence to confirm you are doing everything within your power to uphold your responsibilities as a the proprietor

Each EMS file should be bespoke built to suit your site’s individual requirements, and knowing what information to put in is sometimes the most difficult part. The file should be comprehensive but easy to navigate with clear sections so that the information can be easily made available when needed.

The information that is held within the EMS should include but is not limited to:

Details on the treatment plant.

This section should include details on each unit installed, their make and model, the installation date and who installed them and also the capacity of each unit.

Details on the site layout.

This can help anyone new to site identify key locations, this is usually in the form of a map which will identify the location of any wastewater equipment, corresponding electrical supply/ control panel and also the discharge location for sampling.

Details of maintenance contract.

As servicing should be carried out by an experienced and qualified wastewater service provided it is recommended that a service contracts is in place to ensure that the recommended servicing intervals are followed and any remedials are carried out when required.

Copies of all existing maintenance records.

This is possibly the most important section if the EA visit your site, this should consist of all maintenance records including routine services, remedial works, call outs and waste transfer notes. All waste transfer notes should include the correct waste codes, information on the waste carriers license for the chosen contractor and details of the tip used for each desludge.

Sampling records should also be held here, this makes it easy to trace the performance of the treatment and confirmation that the desired effluent quality is being achieved.

Training requirements.

This may not be required for smaller units/ sites but having clearly outlined who is responsible for what aspect of the system should be compiled here.

Daily/ weekly monitoring check lists.

This part of being responsible for a package sewage treatment plant is sadly often overlooked, these tasks should be carried out as routinely as a service by a designated individual.

Carrying out these checks can help identify issues before they get out of control and gives service providers more time to action the correct remedial action.

Complaints record.

This is the section everyone always hopes is empty. Within this there should be a clearly identified procedure on how to handle the complaints along with corresponding log.

These complaints could include things such as noise and odour issues or even details of any logged pollution issues.

With every complaint the resolution and action taken should be detailed.

Additional Health and safety information.

This section should deal with all the processed that need to be followed in the case of an emergency such as a sewer spill, drain blockages and any wastewater related incidents on site.

Here at R A Dalton our team can help you build a comprehensive and functional environmental management system to assist with the daily operation of your package sewage treatment plant, this can be undertaken for existing or new sewage treatment plants.

It may be the case that as part of your bespoke Environment agency application you may need to submit evidence that there will be an appropriate and comprehensive system in place.

For more information on the services we can provide, why not give us a call on 01388 537030.