How to audit effluent treatment plant
Effluent treatment plant audit conducted to verify processes to ensure effluent treatment, sewage, and water management and disposal process correctly.
Effluent treatment plant is important part of manufacturing unit that should be managed and implementation need very seriously, effluent treatment plant shortly called “ETP” is very important that all the sewage, waste water and chemicals that used in the manufacturing processes are collection, storage, processes and disposal are managed in effluent treatment plant, hence the responsibility of organization are very higher in the cases of human health and safety, environmental requirements for working peoples around or at effluent treatment plant, and also considered the values of environmental requirements around the organization locations. The government requirements, rules and regulations for the effluent treatment plant are important for the manufacturing unit that each requirements should be filled properly, and compliance for each rule and regulation are important as per organization received consent for compliance of health & safety, factory acts, government rules and standards environmental requirements. The organization should always needs to comply requirements of consent received from government where all the limitation, permission, rules compliance, reporting as factory acts and concern details should be provides to government as instructions, hence the internal as well as external auditing, inspection, effluent treatment plant verification and monitoring, controls for manage tasks are considered in hazardous category, generally in effluent treatment plant, all the materials, chemicals and waste are considered as “hazard” but category managed as level of hazards, some chemical, reagent chemicals, and output from various processes’ materials are considered in “Red” or very high category of hazardous materials that should be needs to treat, handling, processing accordingly.
To considering serious requirements, consent of government for effluent treatment plant and general processes are based for effluent treatment plant audit, so its important that each auditor should be well experienced and skilled who are conducting effluent treatment plant, because the each process, activities, safety requirements, environment requirements, personal protection etc.., should be properly verified and audited. The effluent treatment plant audit is conducted to verify some general areas are:
- Personal protective equipment procedures, guidelines, instructions and training to use in regular task, risk level and PPE used are needs to verify.
- Waste water management, sewage system and its concern processes where possibility of risks, requirements of PPE (personal protective equipment), standards and government rules and compliances.
- Human health & safety concern requirements should be complied in the effluent treatment plants’ regular tasks as well each process are conducted during the working.
- Providing controlled environment where government requirements should be complied, as per government rules air pollution, noise controls, land contamination etc.., requirements should be fulfilled.
- Peoples working in effluent treatment plant, in side and near around are well aware about risk and hazard of the materials, chemicals and waste are storage and processing in it, hence all the concern peoples are well trained and aware about the process, use of personal protective equipment and regular task and attached risk with it.
- The chemicals are used in manufacturing / production lines are released at effluent treatment plant, materials waste and other processes sewage are storage and processing at effluent treatment plant and chemicals which are used in manufacturing, testing product, filtering materials and water at effluent treatment plant is reagent chemicals can be very toxic and harmful for human body so needs much take care during handling, storage, use at processes mean it is on higher priority to manage all tasks concern it, handling and storage are managed as per supplier of chemicals and chemical reagent provided material safety data sheet to manage should be followed strictly by concern peoples and authority should frequently monitor and control over processes to involve and guide to peoples for manage the tasks for minimize risk level.
- The maintenance team should be effort more to manage frequency enough for maintenance activities for machinery, equipment, electrical appliances are installed at the effluent treatment plant, each machine and equipment should proper works and manages the tasks as assigned.
- Required internal / external audit and its immediate compliance to avoiding risk in effluent treatment plant.
- The internal audit team should be needs to verify the effluent treatment plant operation and maintenance register by concern authority that is environmental engineers & operator to ensure that the concern activities are managed properly.
- The water records should be managed properly, whether hourly pH results should be managed and needs to verify it’s should not be exceeded the level norms.
- Effluent treatment plan and its laboratory records should be needs to verify by qualified auditors.
- All flow meters are working properly is needed to ensure by visual audit.
- Important part of the verification is to what quantity of acid is being used for neutralization purpose, and acid concern all activities are managed properly, starting to end whole processes should be audited.
- Management should committed to provides resources as effluent treatment plant required, hence the government, factory acts, standards system i.e. environment health & safety requirements should be considered and involve in the improvement task are appropriated for enhancement in effluent treatment plant safety.
As above provided some basic points that help to manage internal audit for the effluent treatment plant, the internal audit is important processes that the processes of inspection and audit should conducted as per effluent treatment plant capacity, level of risks, and materials used in the manufacturing and supporting processes with chemicals / reagent used in effluent treatment plant at laboratory. The points provided are basis and improve it as internal requirements of effluent treatment plant. For the documentation of effluent treatment plant and its verification needs a proper checklist that conducting audit processes, see picture below given as example format of effluent treatment plant audit checklist for education purpose:
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Effluent treatment plant audit checklist
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