Where Does Your Water Go?

We collect and treat more than 945 million litres of waste water from Scottish homes, businesses and industry every day.

The Environment 

The environment is protected by European legislation when it comes to discharging waste water into rivers and coastal waters. We’re committed to this cause and we’re investing millions of pounds upgrading and building new waste water treatment works and systems.

All discharge into water courses must comply with quality standards set by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA).

For further information on environmental issues contact SEPA at info@sepa.org.uk or visit www.sepa.org.uk

How We Treat Your Waste Water 

Your waste water passes down your drains into the sewer network, to one of our 1800 waste water treatment works.  We then reduce contamination in the water to safe levels before returning the treated water to rivers and the sea. 

A typical treatment process 

1. preliminary treatment (screening - grit removal) 
2. primary treatment (sedimentation) 
3. secondary treatment (biological filtration or activated sludge) 
4. final treatment (final settlement)