Gross solids from combined sewers in dry weather and storms, elucidating production, storage and social factors

Spence, Kevin; Digman, Christopher; Balmforth, David; Houldsworth, James; Saul, Adrian J.; Meadowcroft, James

doi:10.1080/1573062x.2015.1025081

Cited by 13 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…The problem of solids discharge was initially characterized as an aesthetic dimension (Ashley et al, 2005; Friedler et al, 1996; Spence et al, 2016), but has now been linked to deepening realization that the hygiene and other products discarded through toilets also contribute to several forms of pollution in aquatic ecosystems (Peberdy, Jones, & Green, 2019). Often hygiene products are not retained by sewage retention systems and consequently end up in water courses and marine environments.…”

Section: Background: Infrastructual and Sustainability Challenges Arimentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These are important contributions as they have enabled characterization of the unflushables challenge. For example, the collection of samples from sewers and blockages has furthered understanding of the contents of sewer blockages, an otherwise largely invisible outcome of inappropriate disposal of unflushables (Drinkwater & Moy, 2017; Mitchell et al, 2017; Spence et al, 2016). Estimations on flushed products have also been produced based on collection of waste from beaches and rivers, enabling an understanding of where unflushable products re‐emerge from sewerage systems (MCS, 2019; Williams & Simmons, 1999).…”

Section: Research Synthesis: Existing Research Gaps and Opportunitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Sensory reactions and sociocultural differences in relation to flushing practices have little been acknowledged in the literature on unflushables and even then left unexplained. For example, Spence et al (2016) noted differences in the solids contained in wastewater samples from three different areas in Sheffield, United Kingdom (i.e., high income white population, low income aging population, and low‐income 30% Pakistani ethnicity). Considering the sociocultural and sociospatial dynamics of disposal practices also connects with research that has identified the importance of thinking about the multiple and interconnected dynamics of metabolisms of fat from the body to the city level that may influence sewer blockages and their sociospatial distributions across a city (cf.…”

Section: Research Synthesis: Existing Research Gaps and Opportunitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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“Unflushables”: Establishing a global agenda for action on everyday practices associated with sewer blockages, water quality, and plastic pollution

2020

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The disposal of unflushable products via the toilet is an enduring problem and increasing contributor to environmental and infrastructural challenges such as fatbergs, water quality and plastic pollution. Rising scientific and public interest in “throw‐away” cultures, and renewed government pressure for water and sewerage companies to act as custodians of water resources, raises questions about how and why impactful disposal practices occur and what might be done to change them. To date there has been little systematic research on unflushable products, and little is known about the routines and practices through which unflushable products find their way into wastewater systems. This paper reviews social science research including historical, sociological, and anthropological studies of cleanliness and hygiene, as well as sociotechnical approaches to the study of household practices and infrastructures to understand the challenges of unflushables. Based on this research, the paper offers a new conceptualization of the unflushables challenge. We argue that unflushables are a distributed problem, one that is not the direct consequence of either individual behavior, product design or infrastructural decline, but the outcome of myriad social, cultural and material developments in society. These include diversity in “flushing” cultures, gendered expectations in cleanliness practices; the evolution of conventions around cleanliness and hygiene; infrastructural imaginaries and expectations; and political dimensions of infrastructural development and maintenance. We demonstrate how social science research is essential in defining a new global research agenda on unflushables that further aids the design of new intervention and policy pathways. This article is categorized under: Engineering Water > Sustainable Engineering of Water Science of Water > Water Quality

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Section: Background: Infrastructual and Sustainability Challenges Arimentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Research Synthesis: Existing Research Gaps and Opportunitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Research Synthesis: Existing Research Gaps and Opportunitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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“Unflushables”: Establishing a global agenda for action on everyday practices associated with sewer blockages, water quality, and plastic pollution

2020

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“…Whilst there is good evidence of flushing behaviour from sewer surveys and quantitative data exploring self-reporting of flushing norms across a broad demographic (e.g. Friedler et al, 1996;Ashley et al, 2005;Dickens et al, 2012;Spence et al, 2016), there has been very little in-depth qualitative discussion with key stakeholders about the issue of menstrual sanitary product disposal in developed countries. In their study of sanitary waste disposal practices Ashley et al (2005) identified hygiene and social embarrassment as factors influencing disposal of sanitary products and called for further research into this issue.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Inappropriate flushing of menstrual sanitary products

Hawkins

Sharpe

Spence

et al. 2019

Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Water Manag

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This paper explores the disposal strategies of menstrual sanitary products through in-depth semistructured interviews of women aged 18-30 years. There have been many educational campaigns to encourage solid stream waste disposal, however inappropriate disposal and blockages are still a major problem for the water industry. Whilst there have been quantitative studies exploring selfreporting of flushing norms, there is evidence to suggest these results may not take into account the complex set of socio-cultural factors associated with menstrual product disposal. Bridging this gap, our interviews found that although all participants had a desire to responsibly dispose, their ability to utilise solid waste streams or to minimise waste by using reusable products was not always possible because they felt, to some degree, restricted by the wider societal requirements for discretion and the design, accessibility and availability of bins and bathroom facilities. Based on these findings Industry recommendations are suggested.

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“…Recently, Spence et al (2016) presented the daily variations of different sanitary items in three different catchment areas and found that the most common sanitary item in the wastewater in the investigated areas was wet wipes. Mitchell et al (2017) also investigated the content of wastewater based on samples and found that textiles constituted around 33% of the samples.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterisation of textile shape and position upstream of a wastewater pump under different part load conditions

Jensen

Sörensen

Rosendahl

et al. 2017

Urban Water Journal

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Accumulations of sanitary textile materials often lead to clogging of pumps in the wastewater system. Simulation of clogging phenomena may help to identify means of reducing the risk of clogging. In order to provide realistic initial conditions for clogging simulations, this study characterises textiles in artificial wastewater in the suction pipe to a dry-installed pump at nine different operating points. The textiles are recorded approximately 3.5 pipe diameters from the pump inlet and approximately three pipe diameters from the suction pipe bend at pipe Reynolds numbers in the range 300,000-900,000. Parameters of position, orientation, elongation and projected two-dimensional (2D) area are extracted using image analysis. The resulting parameters from the different operating points are compared using analysis of variance. The results show that the position, orientation and elongation do not change significantly with the operating point, while the projected 2D area decreases with an increased flow.

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Gross solids from combined sewers in dry weather and storms, elucidating production, storage and social factors

Cited by 13 publications

References 24 publications

“Unflushables”: Establishing a global agenda for action on everyday practices associated with sewer blockages, water quality, and plastic pollution

“Unflushables”: Establishing a global agenda for action on everyday practices associated with sewer blockages, water quality, and plastic pollution

Inappropriate flushing of menstrual sanitary products

Characterisation of textile shape and position upstream of a wastewater pump under different part load conditions

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