Living with a stink? Technology might help
Milpitas, an affluent city in California's Silicon Valley tech hub, has an odour problem.
Just like in Milpitas, where Kong is part of a citizen's campaign against the odours, communities around the world are raising a stink about bad smells making day-to-day life miserable.
Kong is optimistic a data-driven approach will make a difference.
The operators of Newby Island landfill have been ordered by local authorities to use drones and install monitors to systematically track and measure the chemicals responsible for bad odours.
For decades, residents have had to endure rank smells wafting from industrial sites, among them a 342-acre landfill.
Bad smells from waste sites – a common cause of complaints – are among the stinkiest and most difficult to resolve, according to Carlos Diaz, an environmental consultant based in Spain.
Whatever technology is used, it can be hard to keep everyone happy, as smells are so subjective.
Experts on fixing industrial odours say that the best technologies, when used correctly, can remove 90% or more of the target compounds responsible for smells.
The monitors, which measure levels of chemical compounds in the air, work in combination with a weather station to provide real-time data on the concentrations that are coming from each facility based off the wind patterns.
Claudia Barrios Obregón from Kunak, the company behind the monitors in Des Moines, says: "Right now, the way that cities control or measure odours is olfactometry: a human panel measures and gives an opinion of what the odour is like.
Perhaps befitting Silicon Valley, the community is putting its hopes in technology.
What happened
Just like in Milpitas, where Kong is part of a citizen's campaign against the odours, communities around the world are raising a stink about bad smells making day-to-day life miserable.
Kong is optimistic a data-driven approach will make a difference.
What changed
The operators of Newby Island landfill have been ordered by local authorities to use drones and install monitors to systematically track and measure the chemicals responsible for bad odours.
Who is affected
For decades, residents have had to endure rank smells wafting from industrial sites, among them a 342-acre landfill.
Bad smells from waste sites – a common cause of complaints – are among the stinkiest and most difficult to resolve, according to Carlos Diaz, an environmental consultant based in Spain.
Why it matters
Whatever technology is used, it can be hard to keep everyone happy, as smells are so subjective.
Experts on fixing industrial odours say that the best technologies, when used correctly, can remove 90% or more of the target compounds responsible for smells.
What security teams should do
The monitors, which measure levels of chemical compounds in the air, work in combination with a weather station to provide real-time data on the concentrations that are coming from each facility based off the wind patterns.
Claudia Barrios Obregón from Kunak, the company behind the monitors in Des Moines, says: "Right now, the way that cities control or measure odours is olfactometry: a human panel measures and gives an opinion of what the odour is like.
Attribution
BBC News: Milpitas, an affluent city in California's Silicon Valley tech hub, has an odour problem.
What to watch next
Watch for updated vendor guidance and fixed-version details.