That in turn requires robust sampling of odor sources. This means developing вЂњodor unitsвЂќ or вЂњdilutions-to-thresholdвЂќ for the known sources of odor at a wastewater treatment plant. The Hampton Roads (Va.) Sanitation District is doing that by installing the OdoWatch odor monitoring system, supplied by Kruger Inc., a Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies company.ДЄ key to monitoring and managing odors is to use standardized units of measure so that odors can be viewed objectively. Providing transparency in odor management means having the tools for the job and being able to take subjectivity out of the equation as much as possible. This can lead to disagreements and undermine trust. The perception of odor can vary greatly from one person to another - what one person considers unpleasant or a nuisance might not bother or even be detected by someone else. With treatment plants and residential neighborhoods close together, odor management becomes very important. These plants now sit on prime real estate. Over the last 20 years, this is especially true for plants built near coastal waters and rivers to minimize the distance for discharge. How does that relate to odor management? In many metropolitan areas, neighborhoods are being built closer and closer to treatment plants. In the case of publicly owned wastewater treatment plants, transparency extends to all of our operations. Moving forward, though, transparency has become much broader. Transparency is often associated with financial accountability (think Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002).

A brief Internet search reveals a rapid trend toward making government data available and user-friendly for private citizens. The concept of transparency today reminds us that government is always accountable to the people.

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Smalland case for transparency