Published: Friday, 23rd July, 2010 9:37am

Clearer drinking water after Afton upgrade

SCOTTISH Water say more than 40,000 people in parts of East Ayrshire are enjoying clearer, fresher drinking water after the completion of a £4m upgrade to the Afton Water Treatment Works.

Customers in the New Cumnock, Cumnock, Auchinleck, Mauchline, Hurlford, Patna, Dalmellington, Drongan, Logan, Lugar, Skares, Cronberry, Sorn and Catrine areas are all benefiting from the project.

Mr Stephen Hogg, Scottish water's regional water team leader, said: "Thousands of people in the area are now turning on their taps to the best drinking water they've ever had. This is while we are delivering value for money for our customers for every pound that they spend."

Cathy Jamieson MSP welcomed the completion of the project. She said: "I am delighted to see the upgrade completed. I have visited the Afton Water Treatment Works in the past and I know that Scottish Water takes water quality and safety extremely seriously.

"This latest investment will once again bring improvements for thousands of local people in East Ayrshire."

The Afton WTW project, which was carried out by contractors Bi-Water Leslie Joint Venture for Scottish Water Solutions, the project delivery arm of Scottish Water, will allow the company to meet Drinking Water Quality Regulator guidelines for water quality.

The main part of the project was the construction of a new lamella building, which treats recycled water before it goes back to the head of the works for further use in the treatment process.

Mrs Charlene McBride, Scottish Water's regional communities manager for the area, said she is confident customers will appreciate the long-term benefits delivered by the project.

"We want our customers to enjoy the look and taste of their drinking water and that is why we are investing millions to modernise and improve our water treatment works. Scottish Water is carrying out a number of multi-million pounds improvement programmes across the region.

"These projects will deliver clearer, fresher drinking water to thousands of our customers. This significant level of investment will not only deliver benefits now, but also for decades to come."

In September 2009 Scottish Water completed the first phase of investment projects to rehabilitate the water mains in the water supply zone served by the Afton WTW.

It involved the cleaning and rehabilitation of more than 12km of water pipes, which is benefiting more than 3000 customers in the New Cumnock area.

Other projects to improve the Afton water supply zone are planned for Scottish Water's 2010-15 investment period. These will benefit customers in other parts of the supply zone.

Earlier this year, Scottish Water confirmed that in 2009-10 it invested more than £42m in North, South and East Ayrshire and more than £162m in the area in the 2006-10 investment period, which ended in March.