Scottish Water criticised over ‘slow removal of dangerous’ asbestos water pipes in Caithness and other rural areas
The problem of outdated and hazardous asbestos water pipes in rural areas like Caithness was highlighted by a local MSP this week.
On Tuesday, Edward Mountain, Conservative MSP for the Highlands and Islands, questioned Scottish Water over an FOI request he submitted in 2022, which revealed that “approximately 12 per cent” of the mains water pipes they maintain in Scotland were made with asbestos cement. This equates to 5,816km of dangerous pipework.
In the FOI, Scottish Water stated that it may take until 2072 for the pipes to be replaced, but Edward Mountain believes that this is not good enough.
Scottish Water stated in 2022 that they were increasing their rate of replacement of water mains, which were “causing recurring customer interruptions”, with “most of” a fund of £40m per year targeted at “replacing deteriorating AC [asbestos cement] water mains.”
Mr Mountain said: “I find it unsatisfactory that Scottish Water is not looking to bring timescales forward for the removal of these potentially dangerous asbestos pipes from our mains water systems.
“When these pipes burst, break, or dry out, asbestos can be released into the water course and the surrounding environment, which is incredibly difficult to reverse.
“Thirty-six months ago, Scottish Water told me that it would take over 50 years to replace all 5,816km of asbestos pipework if the rate of replacement stayed constant.
“I was therefore disappointed that Scottish Water representatives were unable to give me an earlier or more specific date.
“I encourage Scottish Water to be frank with the public and to provide them with ambitious, accurate, and achievable timescales for the pipes’ replacement.”
Scottish Water was asked if it could confirm how prevalent asbestos pipes are in Caithness, but would only say that “AC pipework is generally present in higher proportion in areas where rural public water networks expanded rapidly during the decades when this material was favoured.”
Its spokesperson told the paper: “Scottish Water is working to replace AC water mains from its network across Scotland, but this will take time and major investment. The main driver for Scottish Water replacing these pipes anywhere is their performance, particularly where they are causing recurring disruption to supply for customers.
“Age is a factor in performance, but ground conditions, geology and other factors have significant effects.
“We have more than 30,000 miles of distribution mains and approximately 3600 of these, about 12 per cent, are manufactured from AC.
“We are proactively targeting AC pipe replacement as we know these mains are coming to the end of their useful life (50 – 70 years) and cause interruptions to supply due to more frequent bursts.
“This type of pipework was commonly used across the world for a period, coinciding with the rapid expansion of public water networks to serve rural communities, and is still in use in many areas of the country.”
On Tuesday, Professor Simon Parsons from Scottish Water stressed that it is a UK-wide issue, and that the company was “looking to significantly increase the rate of replacement of the asbestos cement mains.”
He indicated that Scottish Water was hoping to bring its delivery date forward by 15-20 years, which Edward Mountain challenged was not quick enough.
