Scottish Water plans improvements after Caithness MP blasts ‘disgusting’ sewage discharges
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Scottish Water has plans to improve its infrastructure and install an additional 1000 monitors at discharge locations.
So said the company's director of environment, Professor Simon Parsons, after far north MP, Jamie Stone, hit out when it emerged sewage was dumped in the Highland area on 1439 occasions in 2023 – a figure he described as "disgusting."
The Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross MP said analysis of the Scottish Water data showed a total of 535,917 cubic metres of sewage was dumped for over 8100 hours last year.
He also pointed out that the amount of dumped sewage was up by 15.1 per cent compared to 2022 when the figure was 1250. Only 22 overflows in the Highlands were monitored, according to the data.
However, Prof Parsons blamed the rise on higher rainfall and stressed that Scotland's rivers and water environment are in "good health" and "among the best in Europe." He pointed out that 87 per cent of "Scotland's water bodies are in a good condition."
The professor said: "We continue to be on track to deliver improvements across our waste water system including installing 1000 additional monitors at discharge locations.
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“There was an increase in the number of overflows last year because of higher rainfall. Storm Babet was in October and that month was the wettest in Scotland on record and we anticipate as the climate changes that rainfall will continue to overload our sewers. We are working with partners across Scotland to deliver new ways of managing surface water."
He added: "Around 99 per cent of these overflows is rainwater, surface water, road run-off, grey water, infiltration of groundwater and trade effluent. More than half of the overflows we report are at locations where there has been treatment of the flows, such as primary settlement and screening.
"We recognise releasing waste water, even occasionally, into Scotland’s rivers and seas is a concern to people and we are playing our part in fully informing the public, as well as improving infrastructure."
Responding to a claim made by Mr Stone about customers "facing huge price rises" while the company's executives "are pocketing bumper bonuses," a company spokesperson said: "Executive pay and performance incentives are in line with arrangements independently approved by the Scottish Water board and the Scottish Government.
“They are set to attract and retain individuals who can achieve high performance and deliver good value for customers, and performance-related elements are only activated when performance is exceeded.
“These arrangements reflect the essential nature of the water and waste water services to the daily lives of five million people."
As reported earlier, Mr Stone said the number of occasions sewage was dumped in the Highland area last year was likely to be "a significant underestimation" as "only a small fraction of sewer overflows across Scotland is monitored. "
He urged the SNP and Greens to "stop defending outdated sewage standards" and said the Scottish Liberal Democrats have plans for a Clean Water Act which would include every sewage dump being monitored and a complete ban on the release of sewage in protected areas such as bathing waters.
