Water plea issued amid low levels in Sutherland
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CUT back on water use, some Sutherland residents have been urged amid "significant scarcity" in rivers in some parts of the county.
Scottish Water has urged people in south-east Sutherland to make water efficiencies where they can, after recent dry weather and hot sunny conditions sent demand soaring by 20 per cent.
The plea also comes amid a worsening condition in the county's waterways.
Sepa moved parts of northern and eastern Sutherland – including the Helmsdale and Naver catchments – into its "significant scarcity" category last week, with the rest of the county sitting at "early warning".
It made the changes "following a week of limited or no rainfall across the country" and said the deteriorating picture was the result of "prolonged dry soil moisture and low surface water flows".
Neighbouring Caithness is at amber "moderate scarcity" status.
Scottish Water has now issued a plea to Sutherland residents and neighbouring east coast areas after it had to tanker water into the network at both Dornoch and Beauly, and "modify the network" on the Black Isle.
Kes Juskowiak, Scottish Water’s water operations general manager, said: “We are appealing to our customers across Dornoch, Inverness and the Black Isle to use water as efficiently as they can.
“These are very challenging conditions because of the warm, dry weather we’ve been experiencing.
“Water levels in our reservoirs are at 74 per cent. This is a fall from 77 per cent last week and from 90 per cent in late May.
“Current levels are below average for this time of year but the main issue is demand for water from customers, which has increased considerably during the warm weather. It’s not isolated to one group but rather is the result of how we all use water in warm weather, particularly in the garden.
“When garden water use increases dramatically, for things like sprinklers and paddling pools, that places considerable strain across our infrastructure to move the water as quickly as the customers need it.
“We are working hard to support the increase in tourism across these parts of the Highlands and elsewhere in Scotland, but we are asking all our customers to be more water efficient and aware of how the use water.
“If people in Inverness, Dornoch and the Black Isle – residents and visitors or holidaymakers – can take some small, simple steps to reduce their water use, they can make a big contribution towards our efforts to maintain normal supplies for everyone.”
Water saving tips include:
- Use a watering can instead of a garden hose because hoses and sprinklers can use about 1000 litres per hour – more than the equivalent of 12 baths.
- Don’t use jet washers, which use an average of 36 litres of water.
- Don’t use paddling pools, which use an average of 400 litres of water (if pools are used try quarter filling them and using the water to water your garden afterwards).
- Turn the tap off when brushing teeth.
- Use washing machines and dishwashers only when fully loaded.
Scottish Water posts facts, tips and activities on social media to raise awareness about why we need to save water and more information on saving water is available at www.scottishwater.co.uk/savewater.
