Scottish Water has said it has completed a major upgrade of sections of the network of water mains in Glasgow city centre.

The work, which involved replacing give miles of ageing distribution mains beneath some of the city's streets, will help deliver improved services to thousands of people across the region.

Commencing in July 2012, the £3.5m upgrade has been completed on time and has reduced the risk of bursts, as well as the inconvenience caused to customers, road users and pedestrians by them.

On most of the upgraded pipes, Scottish Water's contractors, Farrans Constriction, used the slip-lining method which involves opening the old iron pipes and inserting new plastic pipes which are more durable and less susceptible to bursts. The investment will also help provide clearer, fresher drinking water.

In addition, it will further reduce leakage and the amount of water having to be produced at the Milngavie and Balmore water treatment works, which serve most of Greater Glasgow. Subsequently, this will reduce our operating costs and carbon emissions and improve Scottish Water's overall efficiency.

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Geoff Aitkenhead, Scottish Water's Asset Management Director, said: "Scottish Water is delighted to have completed this major investment in our water infrastructure in parts of the centre of Glasgow. This is great news for Glasgow and underlines Scottish Water's commitment to supporting the regeneration of the city.

"These improvements will benefit our customers for many years to come. They will also help the city as it prepares for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games and other major events."

The streets where most of the work was carried out included George Street, Hope Street, Bath Street, Renfield Street, St Vincent Street, Wellington Street, Sauchiehall Street, George Street, Nelson Mandela Place, George Square and Duke Street.

Additional work was also carried out in the George Square area, which had not been planned at the start of the project.

Dan Wood, Scottish Water's project manager, said: "This investment was targeted on pipes where there had been a history of bursts and, while the possibility of bursts can never be ruled out, the improvements have substantially reduced the risk of them in these streets.

"We did everything we could to complete this important project as quickly and efficiently as possible. Some inconvenience was unavoidable during a project of this type but we did absolutely everything possible to minimise this."

(JP/CD)