Customers Urged to Save Water as Dry August Reduces Reservoir Levels

“We’re working hard to maintain normal supplies for all customers and would ask that they
use water efficiently to protect this precious resource.
”

John Griffen
Scottish Water's Water Operations General Manager

Scottish Water is calling on people to use water as efficiently as possible in homes and gardens to help protect water resources and maintain normal supplies across the country.

Following the driest spring in Scotland in 70 years, August has been drier than average, meaning many reservoirs are below normal levels with the east of Scotland worst affected.

• Average reservoir levels across Scotland are down 2% to 73% this week and this is 9% lower than the average of 82% for this time of year.
• In the east of Scotland, average reservoir levels are down 1% to 57%, which is 24% below the average of 81% for this time of year there.

Scottish Water has also seen demand increase by 100m litres per day – the equivalent to the normal supply to Dundee and Tayside.

The business is now asking customers, particularly those in the east of Scotland, to support secure supplies by:

• Using water efficiently in the garden and outdoor spaces by using a watering can instead of a garden hose where possible and avoiding using sprinklers
• Taking shorter showers
• Turning the tap off when brushing teeth
• Using washing machines and dishwashers only when fully loaded
• Using a bucket and sponge rather than a hose to wash the car.
• And checking for and repairing any leaking toilets

John Griffen, Scottish Water’s water operations general manager, said: “We’re working hard to maintain normal supplies for all customers and would ask that they use water efficiently to protect this precious resource.

“We believe that a large part of the additional water use at the moment is in gardens so we would ask that customers are mindful of how much water they use there.

“Any rainfall we have had in parts of the country recently has not been prolonged enough to help our resources recover from the long spells of dry weather we have had recently and earlier this year.

“And, with no significant rain forecast for the next week or more, it’s important that everyone helps.”

Scotland had a very dry start to the year (Jan-May) across the country as a whole, and in the east in particular. For the east of Scotland Met Office region, it was the 6th driest Spring on record (out of 190 years) and the Jan-May period was driest since 1953 (the 5th driest of 190 years).

Rainfall for June-July has been closer to average across most of the country, but August is currently trending drier than average in most areas, despite very heavy thunderstorms in parts of the north-east last week.

Scottish Water is working to ensure it can maintain public water supply to customers in parts of the country affected by lower reservoir levels and increased peak water use.

This includes supplementing borehole supplies serving Moray with water pumped directly from the River Spey.

We are also considering the possibility of bringing water from alternative sources to help supplies at our Backwater and loch of Lintrathen reservoirs - which serve Dundee and Tayside and are currently at about 47% full - and working hard in the area on leakage and looking at changes to the treatment process to help us maintain normal supplies.

We only take water from other sources under licence from SEPA and where there is no detrimental impact on the environment.

In the West Linton area of the Scottish Borders, Baddingsgill and West Water reservoirs – which serve much of West Lothian - are at 50% and 40% and we are balancing the flows between both sources.

The company is also using tankers to supplement normal water supplies in some parts of the country. In the past few days we have had as many as 25 tankers running in various parts of the country to supplement supplies.

Scottish Water had a good response from customers in May to its call then for people to save water and we are looking for the same positive response to this latest call.

We are individually using an average of 178 litres of water per person per day, which is higher than in England and Wales where people use an average of 137 litres per person per day.

Scottish Water posts facts, tips and activities on social media to raise awareness about why we need to save water and more information on saving water is available at www.yourwateryourlife.co.uk/save.

Information on our Climate Adaptation Plan, which has good statistics and a map on water scarcity projections, is available here: Scottish Water Adaptation Plan.