Applying

We will provide you with early guidance that may influence the layout or design of your pipework, or the points of connection for water and wastewater supplies. 

Please be aware that any response provided at this stage is not a guarantee of water or waste water capacity in our network. To secure the capacity for your development you are required to submit a formal Water and/or Waste Water applications via our portal. You can do this once you have received a response from the PDE and are in a position to progress. 

Making a water connection or sewer connection application

The formal process of applying for new connections to water mains and waste water services is designed to support you. Regardless of the scale or complexity of your development, our application process provides detailed guidance and support. Once you have received a PDE response, a water and/or waste draft application will be available on your portal account for you to “Continue with your applications”.

If you are unable to use the portal or having any difficulties, you can contact our Development Services team on Freephone 0800 389 0379 or email developmentoperations@scottishwater.co.uk and we can assist you with the completion of your application.  

Once an application has been submitted, an assigned member of our technical team will review your application and perform a technical audit; looking at our network, your site location and the design proposal submitted. We will check if our water network can supply the water you require and if relevant check if our sewer network can drain your waste water. We aim to provide our formal response to your application within 20 working days. If these checks highlight any issues, it may take longer to process your application. We may at this point offer alternative solutions. For us to plan and deliver as fast a service as possible, please highlight any site issues that you may be aware of.

Design Content with Your Application

When submitting your application, please include as much information as possible to allow us to assess your requirements. Please include a design, indicating the proposed root of any new pipework. If you require any assistance in identifying the nearest public water main or sewer please click HERE.

Essential information you will need to complete the application form:

• Planning Ref number
• Location Plan, clearly identifying your development in relation to the surrounding area
• Site Plan
• Consent if crossing third party land.
• Drainage proposals – foul and surface water (or information on private treatment if water only connection)

Please ensure that your waste water application is supported by appropriate design calculations.

Designs must include all the necessary consultations with your Local Authority, Roads Authority, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), Fire Authority and any other relevant bodies if appropriate.  

If you are already aware of the presence of a public asset within the boundary of your site, designs should include any required diversions of our existing infrastructure.  

The published guidance documents can be viewed here: 

• Sewers for Scotland
• Water for Scotland

Important: If you are applying for a water only connection and using private treatment for sewage discharge please inform us of this on your application as no physical water connection will be permitted until the sewer connection has been made or updated as private treatment.

Land Access (Servitude)

Should you need to lay your pipework across land, which is not in your ownership to gain a connection to our network, you must obtain permission from the owner of the affected land prior to commencing work. We will request a copy of this documentation for our reference and review.

To avoid costs and delays, where a surface water discharge to our combined sewer system is anticipated, the developer should contact us as soon as possible prior to making a connection request, with strong evidence to support the intended drainage plan.

We will assess this evidence and provide a decision that reflects the best option from environmental and customer perspectives. If you wait until the connection request stage before consulting with us, the connection may be refused.

Please note: Our invoice must be paid before you can proceed to the next step.