Clearer, Fresher Water for Greenock

Residents in part of Greenock are enjoying clearer, fresher drinking water after the recent completion of a £200,000 Scottish Water mains rehabilitation project in the town.

The project, which began in January, has substantially improved the quality of water in Mallard Crescent, Merlin Avenue, Partridge Road, Falcon Crescent and Lyle Road.

Paul Maxwell, Scottish Water’s regional manager, said: “We are delighted to have completed this important project which has made significant improvements in an area of Greenock where our customers have had some problems with their water in the past.”

The project, which was carried out for Scottish Water by contractors PN Daly, involved the use of the open cut method to replace old cast iron pipes with new plastic ones. It was part of Scottish Water’s £4m investment to rebuild the pipe infrastructure and provide better quality drinking water in Inverclyde.

A total of 1.4kms of pipes were replaced, including 575 metres in Mallard Crescent and 200 metres in both Partridge Road and Merlin Avenue.

Site manager John Kerr, of PN Daly, said:

“We are very pleased to have completed this important work in Greenock. Some parts of the project required traffic management, on Partridge Road and a section of Merlin Avenue and Lyle Road, and that caused some disruption to traffic but unfortunately there was no alternative.

“There was also some traffic management on Mallard Crescent on a bend near the local school but again that was necessary as the road there is not wide.

“As we completed each section of the pipe, those sections were sampled and the customers were transferred onto the new main.

“There was some vandalism, which disrupted our work, and the unexpected discovery of six inches of concrete under the tar in Mallard Crescent also held us back a bit. But in general the project went very well and we would like to thank the local people for their patience and cooperation.”

Dawn McDermott, Scottish Water’s regional community manager, said: “We worked closely with the community before the project started, and as the work progressed, and I am delighted it has now been completed.”

Greenock councillor welcomes project completion

The completion of the project was also welcomed by Councillor Iain McKenzie, whose Inverclyde South ward includes the Mallard Crescent area.

Councillor McKenzie, who is deputy leader of Inverclyde Council, said: “I am very pleased that this area of my ward has received this kind of investment by Scottish Water. I have received no further complaints from residents about the water and I believe they are delighted.

“There was some disruption during the work but I think the residents realised this was inevitable if they were to get to where they are now.”