Care must be taken during agitation and pumping. A floating plastic cover placed on the structure like a tent is commonly installed and offers mixed results. The cover lasts 5 to 10 years with little maintenance. Potential problems with plastic covers include gas trapped under the cover, ballooning of the cover and resulting wind damage. Bleeding off trapped gas is essential.
Concrete covers offer good odor control, but at a high cost.
However, the confined space creates life-threatening risk during human entry. Oversized anaerobic lagoons offer good odor control. In this system, the permanent pool value is increased to reduce the loading ratio. This reduced loading ratio allows the bacteria to more quickly stabilize organic material, which limits odor production. This system works well with a center pivot irrigation system.