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by Karma Loveday

Scottish Water reports on performance in year hit by Covid and climate change

Scottish Water has reported on its performance in 2020/21 – the final 12 months of the 2015-21 regulatory period.


The year was marked by the twin challenges of Covid-19 and climate change, with the latter featuring sustained periods of very dry weather, freezing conditions and severe flash flooding throughout the year.

In the Performance and Prospects report, Scottish Water said public health and customer experience were prioritised throughout in the delivery of core services to maintain supplies and minimise any disruption. Covid-specific activities included restarting the infrastructure programme that was largely suspended in the early stages of the pandemic; providing additional financial support to businesses; and working with partners to assist in early-warning tracking of virus hotspots through the wastewater network.


Chief executive Douglas Millican said: “I am pleased that our performance throughout the year was strong despite experiencing some of our toughest ever circumstances.” Customer experience performance increased and water quality was maintained.


Millican added that a focus was also kept on progressing with transformation plans for the next 40 years. These include reducing carbon emissions to net zero, transforming wastewater services and managing a vast ageing asset base which requires further investment. In September 2020, Scottish Water’s Net Zero Emissions Routemap was published setting out how services will transform over the next 20 years to reduce their contribution to global warming.


Millican said: “The twin challenges of climate change impacts and our ageing infrastructure mean there is a real and pressing need for transforming our services. This means increased levels of investment delivered more efficiently, reducing our own emissions and going beyond that to help others do the same, and changing the we way operate to ensure future generations can have confidence in their water and wastewater services. Our relationship with our customers is vital to all we do and they have a key role to play in supporting our future ambitions.”

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