Great Galloway

More than £20 million has already been identified to provide clearer, fresher drinking water to customers from Newton Stewart to Portpatrick and Stranraer to Isle of Whithorn.

What we're doing

• Nearly 23,000 customers will benefit from clearer, fresher drinking water and a more reliable supply with the upgrade of around 30km of trunk main. Final tie-ins have been completed in this £8 million project improving drinking water supplies across the south west of the region.
• Scottish Water will be closing down two ageing water treatment works at Barclye and Palnure to deliver clearer, fresher drinking water from the Penwhirn Water Treatment Works.

This £12 million project, which will be completed in the late summer/early autumn, has required the construction of around 28 kilometres of durable new plastic pipeline. This will deliver improved quality drinking water to around 5,000 customers from Glenluce to Newton Stewart.

Protecting your natural environment

Improving and protecting the natural environment is very important to Scottish Water and we are investing heavily in this area.

Already around £15 million of funding has been identified to improve the quality of rivers, burns and beaches across Galloway, with Scottish Water investing in a cleaner, fresher environment.

Among the important environmental projects either beginning or reaching completion in summer 2008 are:

• At Newton Stewart around 3600 customers will benefit from work to upgrade the wastewater treatment works and associated pumping station. Work is already underway on the important pipeline which crosses the river.
• Further investment will also be directed towards improving the Minigaff pumping station. Both projects will make for a cleaner, fresher environment, improving the quality of the River Cree.
• The £1.3 million project to upgrade Dunragit Wastewater Treatment Works will help to improve the quality of the Piltanton Burn, significant for both salmon and the primitive Lamprey. Work will be completed this summer. An important part of the project was the fish rescue carried out in June, helping to safeguard the local fish community while work to extend the outfall pipe was carried out.

With health and safety issues also paramount a special school bus was scheduled for children travelling to Drochduil Primary as work was carried out on their leafy school lane.

Growing, thriving communities

• £1.08 million to improve the Kirkcowan Wastewater Treatment Works, which began earlier this year, will be completed in the late summer.This will not only improve the environment for the 400 people who live in the village at the moment, but will also provide additional capacity to help the community thrive and grow in line with local authority projections.
• The £1.05 million project to upgrade the Glenluce Wastewater Treatment Works, which began earlier this year, will deliver environmental improvements on its completion in the late summer. Around 600 people will benefit from a cleaner, fresher environment as a result of the project.