Scottish Water was fined £12,000 last  Friday after the company pled guilty to a series of uncontrolled sewage discharges into the Purgatory Burn near Kirkintilloch, between 6 March and 25 June, 2013.

Officers from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) were alerted to the pollution incident by a member of the public on 5 March, 2013, who noticed sewage along a stretch of the watercourse between Broomhill Industrial Estate and the River Kelvin, of which the Burn is a tributary.

An inspection of the Purgatory Burn on 6 March found contaminated debris on the banks of the Burn, in addition to an odour of sewage and water discolouration along a 200 yard stretch of the watercourse. Sewage fungus was also observed on the river bed and a dark plume of contaminated water was noted entering the River Kelvin.

Scottish Water was immediately notified of the discharge and SEPA officers inspected the Burn on eight occasions between 12 March and 25 June 2013 in order to monitor the situation. In the course of these visits, SEPA officers observed various signs of pollution, including sewage debris, strong odours and water discolouration.

Under the Water Environment Controlled Activities (Scotland) Regulations 2011, operators have a responsibility to prevent discharges of untreated foul water from entering the natural water environment. By allowing uncontrolled discharges to continue in the Purgatory Burn, Scottish Water was in direct breach of the regulations and a report was made to the Procurator Fiscal.  

Scottish Water "reactive only" to significant incident 

Barry O’Connor, Reporting Officer from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), said:

“The detrimental impact on the Purgatory Burn and River Kelvin as a result of the sewage has been significant, with evidence gathered by SEPA’s ecology team indicating that the watercourse had become grossly polluted at the time of the incidents."

“The steps taken by Scottish Water in response to each discharge were reactive only, and while clean-up operations took place on several occasions, no permanent solution was found to stop further sewage discharges reaching the Burn.  Our officers took the appropriate enforcement action which lead to this fine, however we hope that this sends out a clear message, not only to Scottish Water, but also to other operators that pollution will not be tolerated."

“As a result of this case, we understand that Scottish Water has agreed to enhance the wastewater network in the area as part of their next investment period from 2015-2021. SEPA will continue to work with Scottish Water to ensure the sewerage network is adequate and any recurring issues are dealt with immediately, so that there is no further deterioration of the water environment."