Facing the challenges in the maze of biosolids programs
By Vince Nazareth,
R.V.Anderson Associates
Biosolids management programs
can vary greatly
between the larger municipalities
in Southern Ontario and
the smaller, more remote communities
in the Prairies and Eastern Canada.
This variation is not just limited to size
but includes diversity in community
character, technologies that are
employed, end uses, and the regulations
that are in effect in any given
jurisdiction. But in spite of the maze of
issues that affect municipal biosolids
programs, there are some common
challenges - one of the most prevalent
is dealing with public concern.
One of the approaches used to
improve program quality, and to a
degree, the level of acceptance by the
public, is through the use of best practices.
The National Guide to
Sustainable Municipal Infrastructure:
Innovations and Best Practices
(InfraGuide) is a project funded by
Infrastructure Canada and implemented
by the Federation of Canadian
Municipalities (FCM) in partnership
with the National Research Council
(NRC). It provides a road map to the
best available solutions for addressing
infrastructure issues. It is also the
focal point for a Canada-wide network
of practitioners, researchers and
municipal governments focused on
infrastructure operations and maintenance.
With the decay that is apparent in
our municipal infrastructure, the
InfraGuide project contributes to current
practice and the demands for
infrastructure renewal in Canada’s
municipalities. By providing a network
of knowledgeable practitioners
and documentation of best practices,
the InfraGuide is designed to contribute to the enhancement of municipal
infrastructure management across
the country.
With the current level of activity in
the area of biosolids management,
municipalities will be pleased to know
that the InfraGuide has undertaken the
preparation of a number of best practices
in the area of biosolids management.
The first BP (best practice), entitled
Biosolids Management Programs, is
an overview of biosolids management
from controlling quality of incoming
wastewater through sewer use controls,
to the final end-use of the biosolids
product. The BP includes a comparison
of regulations in North America
and presents an outline of the key elements
that may be considered part of a
biosolids management program.
While recognizing that biosolids
management varies depending on size,
regulations, public perception, social,
economic and political factors, the BP
identifies 13 elements of biosolids
management including:
regulatory framework,
source control,
solids stabilization,
thickening,
dewatering,
storage,
transportation,
beneficial use/disposal,
odour control,
contingency planning,
quality management,
program delivery options, and,
public participation.
The document is a useful primer for
those who have a program that they are
considering changing or for those who
are yet to develop a formal biosolids
management program.
The Working Group in charge of the
development of the biosolids-related
BPs also reviewed the results of a
Canada-wide survey to determine
which of the program elements needed
to be covered in more detail. From the
responses received and the experiences
of the Working Group members, it was
apparent that the safety and sustainability
of biosolids programs were
being questioned, and the group decided
to develop two more BPs to
improve public acceptance.
With 60% of municipalities reporting
that they have no biosolids communication
strategy, and recognizing the importance of building a relationship
with the public, the Working
Group developed a BP for Communication
and Public Consultation for
Biosolids Management. The BP deals
with developing a good relationship
with the public by focussing on:
public awareness - through an ongoing
dialogue with the public,
media relations - working with
reporters, editors, publishers and
producers,
public consultation - a framework
for stakeholder participation in
development and implementation
of a program or project.
The communications BP contains
advice on conducting a situation analysis,
how to identify and engage stakeholders,
forming an advisory committee,
choosing communication tools,
issues management and maintaining
media relations.
The document recognizes trust, quality of information, courteous
communications, commitment, and
fairness, as foundations for successful
municipal public consultation. An
extensive list of references is included,
together with a useful appendix on
risk communication, a valuable
approach to communicating on sensitive
issues.
While building a good relationship
with the public is the first step in
improving public acceptance, the second
is to achieve and demonstrate
quality in a biosolids program. Quality
Management for Biosolids Programs
is a BP that was developed to address
this.
This BP is modelled on the principle
of continuing improvement, and
describes ways to develop, implement
and integrate quality management
principles into municipal biosolids
programs. The BP outlines a cyclical,
four-stage approach to quality management:
Plan - State clearly what you
PLAN to achieve
Do - DO what you need to do to
achieve your plan
Check - CHECK that you are
doing what you said you were
doing
Review - REVIEW to see if what
you are doing is achieving your
plan.
A good quality management system
considers quality at each stage of the
program, committing to a cycle of continuous
improvement and involving
the public in open communication
about the biosolids program and its
performance. Advice is provided as to
where quality checks need to be
applied, the importance of developing
standard operating procedures and the
need to document and share the results
of quality checks with the public. A list
of websites for all provincial regulations
together with a suggested list of
possible quality checks is also provided.
Since the InfraGuide project was
started, over 40 Best Practices have
been prepared under the following
headings:
