Scottish Water is getting ready to start work on a £30 million project to improve services to more than 54,000 people in parts of Bearsden, Milngavie, Clydebank and Strathblane.
Photo: Paul Sexton, alliance management general manager and Graham Waley, senior project manager at Scottish Water
The major investment will change the source of the water supply from Burncrooks Water Treatment Works (WTW) in West Stirlingshire to Milngavie WTW in East Dunbartonshire.
The works will involve the installation of around 8 miles of new water main, the transfer of supply to Milngavie WTW and the decommissioning of Burncrooks WTW. Built in the late 1950s, Burncrooks WTW, in the Kilpatrick Hills near Strathblane is reaching the end of its working life and is not suitable in the long-term to meet stringent water quality standards.
The state-of-the-art Milngavie WTW was opened in 2007 and already serves about 700,0000 across much of the Greater Glasgow area.
The investment in infrastructure will also enable Scottish Water to supply customers with water from more than one WTW which will provide improved resilience and reduce the risk of disruption to normal water supplies.
The work will be carried out for Scottish Water by its alliance partners Caledonia Water Alliance (CWA) and is expected to take around two years to complete.
The main 4.3 miles section of new plastic twin-pipe water main will be installed from Bankell Service Reservoir in the east, to Baljaffray Service Reservoir in the west. A new pumping station will also be constructed at Bankell to pump the water along the new water mains.
The total of 8 miles of water main will also include a second stretch of 3.5 miles of 250ml pipe, to be installed from near Baljaffray to Carbeth, where it will connect to the existing network. This new plastic main will replace an existing stretch of old 21 inch main, which has a history of bursts, and will provide improved security of supply.
Paul Sexton, Scottish Water’s alliance management general manager, said:
“Switching supply from the ageing Burncrooks Water Treatment Works to the state-of-the-art Milngavie WTW will enable us to continue providing high-quality water to thousands of domestic properties and businesses and a large number of public buildings including more than 30 schools in three local authority areas and hospitals such as the Golden Jubilee in Clydebank.”
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