Scottish Water will improve the water supply network by installing 30 miles of new water mains to connect the system in Ayrshire with the Greater Glasgow area’s network.

More than 200,000 people and businesses in much of Ayrshire and parts of East Renfrewshire will benefit from the major £120 million investment in the drinking water network.

The new and expanded network will enable Scottish Water to provide customers with greater security of supply and to respond more effectively to operational issues such as burst water mains and minimise disruption to customers.

Customers across a large part of Ayrshire currently receive their water from a single source, the Bradan Water Treatment Works, south of Straiton in South Ayrshire. The water is supplied to customers’ taps via a 34-mile-long trunk water main installed about 50 years ago from the Bradan Water Treatment Works to the north of Irvine.

The construction of about 30 miles of new strategic water mains, which is expected to take about four years, will connect the Bradan water supply network to the network served by the Milngavie and Balmore water treatment works, north of Glasgow.

When complete, the investment will will create a larger, more robust and connected supply zone and enable Scottish Water to transfer water from Glasgow to Ayrshire, and vice-versa, if required.

Another key part of the investment will deliver improved water quality to about 56,000 people with the replacement of the existing water supply from three small water treatment works in East Ayrshire and East Renfrewshire with water supplied from the Glasgow network.

Announcing the investment in Kilmarnock with Keith Brown, the Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure, Investment and Cities, Douglas Millican, Scottish Water’s Chief Executive, said:

“This major strategic investment scheme, which will deliver a more resilient water supply network for Ayrshire, is the first stage in our investment to improve connections between water supply networks across Scotland.”

“We have invested significantly in improvements to water quality in parts of Ayrshire in recent years and now, as proposed in our strategic projections, we will improve much of the area’s water supply resilience by creating a new link between the supply systems.”

The key elements of the investment to connect the Ayrshire and Glasgow networks include:

• The construction of a 10 mile-long strategic water main from Waulkmill Glen reservoir near Newton Mearns to the Fenwick/Waterside area.
• The construction of 13 miles of water mains from Fenwick/Waterside to a reservoir storage tank near Dundonald in South Ayrshire.
• The installation of six miles of water mains, and the upgrading of some existing mains, from the Pollok area to a reservoir storage tank in the south of Glasgow.
• The investment also includes maintenance work on existing water mains in Ayrshire and some refurbishment and upgrading work at Bradan Water treatment Works, which will all help improve resilience during construction of the new water mains.
• The investment will enable the water company to transfer supply from three water treatment works in East Ayrshire and East Renfrewshire (Amlaird, Corsehouse and South Moorhouse) to the modern Milngavie Water Treatment Works.

The investment also includes the replacement of an existing stretch of strategic water main in the Irvine area with a new main on a new route for improved resilience and better maintenance access. Scottish Water said more details of this will be confirmed in due course.

Caledonia Water Alliance, Scottish Water’s alliance partners, will construct the 10 mile-long strategic water main from Waulkmill Glen reservoir near Newton Mearns to the Fenwick/Waterside area.

The contractors for the other water mains construction work have not yet been confirmed.