Boost For Fraserburgh Environment

17-Jul-08

Fraserburgh’s coastal environment is benefiting from the completion of a £1.3million Scottish Water project to overhaul the town’s main waste water pumping station, which deals with 1 million litres of sewage every day.

The Lackiehead pumping station near Kinnaird Head lighthouse is an underground chamber almost ten metres deep containing five massive pumps which ensure waste water is transferred to the treatment works at Phingask. The pumps were clogged with waste materials that had built up over the years. The station not only handles household waste water but effluent from the fish processing industry. If the pumping station had broken down the sewer system could have backed up, causing spillages, flooding and unpleasant odours.

The project was part of Scottish Water’s 2010 Vision for Aberdeenshire, the ongoing £62million campaign of improvements across the region. Customers can find out more and send comments from a website: www.scottishwater.co.uk/vision2010.

Ian Burnett, Scottish Water’s regional manager for Aberdeenshire, said: “The Buchan coast is a fantastic natural resource and we take our environmental responsibilities very seriously. We were keen to avoid spillages or odours, so the refurbishment of Lackiehead pumping station was a top priority for us. To most people what happens after they flush the toilet is out of sight, out of mind, but I hope this project demonstrates the serious amount of hard work and investment required.”

WORKING IN DIFFICULT CONDITIONS

Clive Kennedy, senior project manager for Scottish Water Solutions, said: “This project was quite a challenge. The pumping station is right on the seafront and we were often working in difficult conditions with waves crashing around us and strong tides. It was also important we carried out the job in a way that allowed the station to remain in operation and without risking spillages or odours. We were also close to a major visitor attraction, the Lighthouse Museum. It was a round-the-clock effort and involved specialist parts coming from Germany and Sweden so well done to everyone involved for a great end result.”

HOW THE WORK WAS CARRIED OUT

Work began on site in February 2007. To ensure the pumping station could continue to operate during the project, the five pumps were replaced in sequence.

By the end of last year three of the five had been replaced. The remaining two have been installed in recent months and are now fully operational.

EVERYONE CAN DO THEIR BIT

While Scottish Water continues to invest in new equipment such as the Lackiehead pumps, everyone can do their bit to ensure the smooth running of the public sewer system. Scottish Water has an ongoing ‘Bag It & Bin It’ campaign, which aims to prevent sewer blockages, odours and flooding caused by inappropriate items being flushed down toilets or poured down plugholes.

The waste water drain running from most houses is just four inches wide and is only designed to take human waste and toilet paper. Other items such as nappies and razors are too big and can cause blockages, potentially costing customers time and money to fix.

Blockages in main sewers can lead to spillages and odours. Cooking fats poured down plugholes also cause blockages.