Scottish ministers consult on water policy despite lack of legal requirement

The Scottish government has begun consulting on the country’s water policy against the backdrop of the climate emergency and the impact of rising temperatures and more intense periods of rain.

A consultation paper just published noted that currently there is no legal requirement for a national water resources blueprint. “We need to understand what we need to do to ensure that we have a balance between what supply is needed to meet the demands placed upon our water resources, where those demands are and have a system for allocating it fairly,” said the paper.

Ministers want to gauge support for the national planning of water resources and catchments and incentivising the industry to generate energy, recover resources from wastewater, reduce chemical use and manage rainwater separately.

Ministers also want to know if all drinking water supplies, regardless of size or ownership, should be tested and inspected and that private wastewater systems should be required to connect to the public system where connection is possible, beneficial and not expensive.

The paper suggested that charges should be set on the basis there are three services involved: supply, wastewater and drainage. It also made the case for streamlining the hose-pipe ban regime and improving the provision of so-called blue-green infrastructure like sustainable urban drainage systems.

In Scotland, the average person uses over 180 litres of tap water every day. This is higher than any other UK country and many European countries. In Germany, for example, the average person uses 125 litres every day; in Denmark they use 105 litres.

Ministers have highlighted that the Climate Change Committee has urged the removal of rainwater from sewers and more efficient use of water including reducing leaking pipes.