Lower Largo FAQs
Lower Largo FAQs
Scottish Water is committed to working with SEPA, Fife Council and the local community to invest in the waste water treatment at Lower Largo and deliver improvements for future generations and the environment.
For the long-term permanent improvement in how we treat waste water for Lower Largo there is a significant amount of work needed to consider all possible options and ensure we select the most appropriate in terms of treatment technology, cost, carbon and construction impact.
We recognise that this will take a number of years to implement and temporary improvement will be required until this can be put in place.
A temporary chemical dosing process was explored with the intention of being in place for the beginning of the bathing season in May 2025. This process involved dosing the influent with coagulant (QP33) to settle solids, adding a disinfectant chemical (TT-XN), and pumping the effluent through contact tanks for optimal disinfection before discharge.
This option has been deemed not viable because the dilution survey conducted in March 2025 showed very low dilution levels at Lower Largo, particularly at low tide. These findings indicated that the temporary dosing process we intended to use would not meet SEPA’s requirements for progressing a licence variation. As a result, we have had to pause further work on the current solution to explore alternative options.
Two variants to chemical dosing which may have delivered reasonable disinfection while maintaining the requirements of the licence variation were investigated but deemed not feasible.
Our immediate focus is on identifying and developing feasible options. We will work closely with SEPA, Fife Council and the community to ensure the chosen solution meets all necessary requirements and benefits the environment.
We are reviewing the entire process to identify areas where improvements can be made to avoid similar delays. Lessons learned from this experience will guide future planning and implementation to ensure more efficient progress.
While we have not finalised alternative solutions yet, we are working to install a temporary solution which involves a non-chemical water treatment package with UV treatment in addition to the existing works.
