Scottish Water was fined £6,000at Stirling Sheriff Court yesterday for causing untreated sewage to enter the Dragon Burn.
Scottish Water pled guilty to allowing untreated sewage to enter a combined sewer and emergency overflow which subsequently discharged to the Dragon Burn, a tributary of the River Teith. The incident occurred between the 11 March 2012 and the 15 March 2012 and was investigated by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) which sent a report to the Procurator Fiscal.
SEPA was alerted to the pollution incident when it received a complaint from a member of the public regarding pollution of the Dragon Burn in Doune.
When a SEPA officer inspected the Dragon Burn at George Street approximately 100 metres upstream of the Scottish Water sewage pumping station at Doune Fire Station, the watercourse was running clear. However, approximately 275 metres downstream, a significant deposition of sewage related debris and sewage fungus could be seen on the banks and bed. There was also a significant growth of sewage fungus in the burn and the water was running grey in colour.
Sewage deposits were running the full 275 metres. An inspection at the surface outfall of the sewage pumping station showed there was a discharge of what appeared to be sewage to the Dragon Burn from the surface outfall pipe. This is the outfall used as the combined sewer overflow and the emergency overflow.
When officers checked the telemetry control panel at the sewage pumping station they found that Pump 1 had tripped or overloaded and Pump 2, the Duty Pump, was stopped. Subsequent correspondence with Scottish Water revealed that the discharge occurred when both pumps at the station failed and the wet well then filled resulting in a spill to the watercourse. Further correspondence from Scottish Water detailed that there was a fault within the Remote Telemetry Unit and that no alarms were recorded over the past three months.
Calum Waddell, SEPA's investigating officer, said:
"The failure of both pumps within Doune Fire Station sewage pumping station meant no sewage was being passed forward for treatment resulting in the discharge of sewage to the Dragon Burn. This could have been avoided if the station had operational alarms in place to alert staff to any problems with the pump. In addition, the operators of the station were unaware of the presence of the screens, and so they were not maintained and couldn't do their job when needed. This caused the significant debris in the watercourse, exacerbating the entire pollution incident."
With the UK government demanding a 50% reduction in storm overflow spills by 2029, the era of reactive management is over. Speaking in the House of Commons on 21 July 2025, then environment secretary Steve Reed said, “This Government will cut water companies’ sewage pollution in half by the end of the decade.”
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