Water warning during heatwave as Scots use 200 million extra litres

More than 200 million litres of extra water is being produced across Scotland every day in order to maintain normal supplies during the current spell of warm weather.

Scottish Water is reminding people to use water efficiently while demand remains high.

It said the extra water being produced is enough to fill 100 Olympic-sized swimming pools or 2.4 million baths.

People are being asked to use watering cans instead of garden hoses and to avoid using jet washers and paddling pools.

They are also being asked to turn off taps while brushing their teeth and to only use washing machines and dishwashers when they are fully loaded.

Kes Juskowiak at Scottish Water said: “These are very challenging conditions because of the warm, dry weather we’ve been experiencing and the forecast for the coming days is for more of the same.

“Water levels in our reservoirs are at 74%. This is a fall from 77% last week and from 90% in late May.

“Current levels are below average for this time of year but the main issue is demand for water from customers, which has increased considerably during the warm weather. It’s not isolated to one group but rather is the result of how we all use water in warm weather, particularly in the garden.

“When garden water use increases dramatically, for things like sprinklers and paddling pools, that places considerable strain across our infrastructure to move the water as quickly as the customers need it.”

Last week, demand across the country was so high that Scottish Water had to provide 100 million litres of extra water per day, compared with normal levels at this time of year.

As temperatures soared in much of the country, that increased to more than 200 million litres of extra water per day over the weekend.

On Sunday, demand for water in the East Neuk of Fife, including the Anstruther, Pittenweem, Crail, and Elie areas, increased by about 40%, or one million litres per day, compared with normal water usage levels at this time of year.

Scottish Water is tankering extra water into some parts of the country to maintain supplies, including: the East Neuk of Fife; Tighnabruaich and Portavadie in Argyll; the Glendale, Waternish and Carbost areas of Skye; Fort Augustus; Orkney; and Dornoch.

In addition, it is deploying additional river pumps and boreholes on the Moray coast and bringing additional boreholes online on Arran and in the Fort William area to maintain normal supplies.

Juskowiak added: “We are working hard to support the increase in tourism across our wonderful country, but we are asking all our customers to be more water efficient and aware of how the use water.

“If people across the country – residents and visitors or holidaymakers – can take some small, simple steps to reduce their water use, they can make a big contribution towards our efforts to maintain normal supplies for everyone and if we can reduce demand it will also be good for the environment as there will be fewer tankers on the roads.”