Scottish Water has published updated data relating to waste water overflow events in line with a commitment to improve transparency of operation - the utility published its Improving Urban Waters Routemap in December 2021 setting out a range of improvement activities.
These are to:
- improve water quality;
- increase monitoring and reporting to cover all overflows that discharge into the highest priority waters; significantly reduce sewer related debris in the environment;
- reduce spills from the sewer system.
Scottish Water said the improved reporting of data from monitored overflows is the first step in its commitment to improved monitoring.
The information published by the water company spans the five-year period 2018-2022, including overflow data for January to December 2022. The data reported is in line with regulatory reporting requirements.
This includes all reported overflows including CSOs, Settled Storm Sewage Overflows (SSSOs) and Emergency Overflows (EOs).
However, it does not include reasons for spills which Scottish Water does not currently record. Reasons for spills are not available for historic events reported to SEPA because Scottish Water was not required to collect or report the information. The water company said it is intending to develop approaches to help identify reasons for spills and this will become part of future releases of information.
It does not capture information relating to other overflows in Scotland – there are around 3,600 overflows across 50,000 km of sewer network and treatment works, equivalent to one every 15km. Around 4 per cent of overflows are monitored and their overflow spills reported to SEPA annually.
In the Routemap Scottish Water committed to increase reporting of spill data from monitored overflows:
- By December 2022 publish annual data for monitored CSOs where data is already reported to SEPA, identifying the main reason for the spills where possible.
- By December 2023, publish spill data annually for all other monitored CSOs.
- By December 2024, publish near real-time spill data for all monitored CSOs.
Simon Parsons, Director for Strategic Customer and Service Planning, said:
“The quality of Scotland’s water environment remains high, and we continue to invest in infrastructure which helps improve it further, including a commitment to increase monitoring across the waste water system.
“Our waste water treatment systems handle more than 1 billion litres a day. They are a vital part of the water cycle in Scotland.
“The routemap sets out a crystal-clear commitment to invest further, monitor performance at more locations and strive to prevent pollution incidents before these happen. We are on track to deliver on those commitments.”
Click here to download the Scottish Water Reported Overflow Event Data to SEPA 2018-2022 & Summary.
Barhale has completed work on two separate Rapid Action Taskforce Spills projects it is carrying out for Severn Trent.
Börger UK, which has firmly established itself as a leading pump brand since it was set up in Staffordshire in 2004, has moved into bigger, brand-new premises in Shrewsbury.
HUBER Technology UK & Ireland are inviting people to register for their March webinar where they will be providing information about HUBER water intake screens for municipal and industrial applications.
Sulzer has launched a new global Center of Excellence (CoE) for Water Treatment Solutions - the CoE consolidates Sulzer’s wastewater treatment expertise in a unified and global manner.
Hear how Scottish Water has completed its £235 million Ayrshire Glasgow Resilience Project - customers across Greater Glasgow, Ayrshire and East Renfrewshire will now benefit from a more secure and resilient water supply.
Hear how United Utilities is accelerating its investment to reduce spills from storm overflows across the Northwest.
Find out more about the remarkable career opportunities on offer at WSP - scroll down to watch the inspirational video.