Odor Annoyance Assessment by Using Logistic Regression on an Example of the Municipal Sector

Around the sewage treatment plant, in the area affected by a large number of complaints about odor annoyance, field measurements of odor properties and questionnaires were carried out. It was confirmed that the inhabitants of the zone closest to the plant are most exposed to the smell, the most intense smell comes from the sludge dryer building, and smells from primary settling tanks and sediment plots are perceived as unpleasant. The analysis of surveys confirmed the problem of odor nuisance, especially in the immediate vicinity, where over 50% of respondents considered odor annoyance as extreme. A division of respondents was introduced into those experiencing severe nuisance and those for whom the smell was not annoying. Then, to relate the probability of occurrence of odor nuisance with a group of independent variables, logistic regression was used to describe the impact of independent variables on the dichotomous dependent variable. It has been shown that the likelihood of experiencing odor nuisance increases with the increase in the intensity of current odors, the parallel noise, and in people who focus on the existing smell, and decreases with increasing satisfaction with their health and in the case of regularly occurring odor.