Environment - ތިމާވެށި
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Item Environmental audit for the compliance and registration of existing of power and water plants at Malé Aerated Waters Company Ltd. Thulushdhoo – K. Malé(2011-03) Adam, M. S.; Abdulla, Lugumaan1. Malé Aerated Waters Company Pvt Ltd (MAWC), based in K. Thulusdhoo, requires registration of existing water production and power generation plants on their facility. As part of the registration process an Environmental Audit (EA) has to be undertaken as required under Schedule D of the Maldives Environmental Impact Assessment Regulation. 2. The Scoping Meeting for this audit was held at EPA on 10 March 2011 and was attended by the key stakeholders, EPA, Maldives Energy Authority, the proponent and the consultant. The approved TOR is given in Appendix 1. 3. At the time of establishment of MAWC, EIA regulation was not in force and so an EIA was no undertaken for the facility. However, in 2005, and later in 2010, an EIA was done for the construction of its service jetty and subsequently for its expansion. Those reports provide description of some of the operational features and their potential environmental impacts. Aspects relating to power generation and water production plants on the facility have not been addressed in these EIA reports. 4. This EA report concerns the status of the existing water production and power generation plants, documenting its operation, safety issues, and its potential environmental impacts and their possible mitigation measures. Owing to the nature of the operational requirement of the franchise agreements, it was found the MAWC maintains stringent measures on all of its processes including the water production and power generation plants. 5. Production of water and maintenance of its quality is of critical importance to their business as such a high consideration is given to ensure highest standards are maintained throughout all stages of water production. Source water for the desalination plant is drawn from deep underground through two bore-holes located close to the beach area at the service jetty. Water is initially passed through a series of sand filters reducing the TDS to < 2500 ppm. The water then undergoes further filtration and 3 different stages of desalination, gradually reducing the TDS to mere 24 ppm for carbonated Soft Drinking production and 2 ppm for package water production. During the process reject water at different stages of filtration and desalination is re-fed into the system to ensure optimal use of the water. Stringent quality control checks are done routinely throughout the process to ensure maintenance of highest standards. 6. The brine water is mixed with the outflow water used for cooling the power generators. This results in dilution of the brine to almost normal sea-water concentrations before being released into the lagoon. The outflow is located some 700 m from the service jetty in the deep lagoon (6-8 m) in front of the entrance channel. Mixing the brine with the return flow of the heated water slightly increase the temperature, but only 1-2 degrees above ambient temperature. The outflow water is mixed instantaneously with the lagoon water reducing the temperature to ambient levels immediately after its release. Roughly 200- 250 cubic meters of desalinated water is produced per day of which about 150-200 cubic meters used for bottling. 7. The power plant is located on the northern section of the MAWC compound. The power plant built at MAWC is powered by 4 Cummins brand diesel electric generators of 1500KVA, 750KVA, 450KVA and 250KVA and distribution equipment. The power generation equipment includes a powerhouse building, a fuel storage facility. The emission stacks are about 9 meters tall and four stacks are installed at the powerhouse. The average production is 560 kWh ranging from 300-900 kWh. Fuel consumption for the plants is about 100-200 L/h 8. Transport of fuel and its usage ensures highest standard of safety to avoid accidental spillage and leaks. Fuel is dispensed to the engines via tanks elevated to about 3 meter with bunded concrete tanks underneath. 9. With regards to safety issues, firefighting equipment was found to be in working condition and within the re-check date limit. Unfortunately there was no earth / lightening rod at the engine house. It was recommended that earth-rod be installed as soon as possible. 10. The team also noted that facility is currently undergoing the compliance process for ISO 14001 which will establish a framework for the conduct of environmental management by requiring the organization to define an Environmental Policy and to establish management procedures that support the policy. 11. The audit team concluded the environmental standards meet over and above the expected levels required by the existing government rules. No major issue was found that needs to be followed up.Item Environmental audit for the compliance and registration of existing water plant at Maandhoo Fisheries Complex L. Maandhoo(2011-05) Adam, M. S.; Abdulla, Lugumaan1. Maandhoo Fisheries Complex (MFC), based in Maandhoo, Laamu Atoll, requires registration of the existing water production plant on their facility. As part of the registration process an Environmental Audit (EA) has to be undertaken as required under Schedule D of the Maldives Environmental Impact Assessment Regulation. 2. A scoping meeting for this audit was held at EPA on 14 April 2011 and was attended by the key stakeholders, EPA, the proponent and the consultant. The approved TOR is given in Appendix 1. 3. At the time of establishment of MFC in 2005, an EIA was undertaken for the construction of the fish processing facility involving cold storage, Katsoubushi plant for dried fish products, fishmeal facility, power generation and water production, vacuum packing, waste management, laboratory and testing facilities. A revision of the EIA was done for removal of the sea grass bed on either side of the harbour. Later, a further revision was undertaken to expand the harbour basin and to use the dredged material to reclaim the area on either side of the harbour to further extend the area. Those reports provide description of existing environment, proposed development activities and their potential environmental impacts and possible mitigation measures. Aspects specifically relating to water production plant have not been addressed in those reports. 4. This EA concerns the status of the existing water production plant, documenting its operation, safety issues, and its potential environmental impacts of its operation and their possible mitigation measures. Since the MFC have been maintaining ISO 9001:2000 Quality Management System and ISO 14001:2004 Environmental Management System, it was found the MFC maintains stringent measures on all of its processes including the water production. 5. Production of water and maintenance of its quality is of critical importance to canning plant as such consideration is given to ensure highest standards are maintained in water production. Source water for the desalination plant is drawn by gravity flow and collected in a concreted tank beneath the water level. The inlet pipe is 500 m into lagoon on the south side of the harbour. Stringent quality control checks are done routinely throughout the process to ensure maintenance of high standards. 6. Water from the gravity flow tank is pumped through a sediment filter before passing through the RO membranes. Controlled chlorination is done at two stages before the water is used for canning and drinking. The brine outflow is released into the harbour basin mixed with the engine cooling outflow. The release of diluted brine water into the harbour area has no apparent detrimental environmental impact. 7. It was noted that above normal levels of sediment in the intake water was creating additional load to RO membranes resulting to replace the membranes too often. This was due to dredging that has been going on for the last 6-8 months. Once the dredging is complete the sediment load in the intake water is expected to return normal levels. In the meantime it was recommended to use additional sediment filters before the water is passed through the RO membranes. 8. The audit team concluded the environmental standards meet expected levels required by the existing government rules. The only issue that required to be followed up was the recommendation for additional sand filters to avoid the frequent replacement of RO membranes.