Scottish Water has welcomed the official opening of the Fetlar Water Treatment Works.

The pupils of Fetlar Primary School opened the plant, which is located off the Isle of Yell in the Shetland Isles.

Chris Wallace, Director of Communications at Scottish Water, also attended the ceremony and said: "It was a great visit and a real pleasure to be greeted so warmly by the pupils and staff at the school. We did a presentation where the pupils were told all about their new water supply.

"The pupils had been involved in the planning stages for the works and saw plans and artists impressions about the project. I also gave the school a presentation on WaterAid, the charity which Scottish Water supports in their mission to bring clean water and sanitation to communities around the world. The pupils prepared and served us a fantastic lunch which was a pleasant surprise."

The project to construct the new water treatment works was delivered by Scottish Water Solutions, the project delivery arm of Scottish Water.

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Dave Kitching, Project Manager, Scottish Water Solutions, added: "This is an innovative scheme carried out by Ross-Shire Engineering and our project team in Shetland.

"The new water supply was put in place on 3rd September and is operating well. It is superior to the previous system in a number of ways - we have converted the old raw water tank to a new clear water tank, enabling the works to have much more storage capacity. This is essential in maintaining supplies should there be an issue with the works.

"The raw water supply can contain high levels of organic matter and bacteria as a result of the source we use. We have upgraded the treatment system to a modern membrane plant. This filters out impurities much more effectively and delivers a much more consistent and wholesome supply of clear, fresh drinking water all year round and can cope much better with variances in the raw water quality.

"The new works and the associated pumping station are situated north of the school. Most of the work took place within the existing site of the treatment works and the new filtration system is housed in a new building which was pre-fabricated on the Scottish mainland and transported to site. This innovative approach reduced traffic and disruption for the community on Fetlar."

Scottish Water is investing significantly in Shetland throughout the 2010-2015 period, with more than £19m being spent to improve water and waste water services for communities across the Shetland Isles. In addition, the company has upgraded the water facilities and network in Papa Stour, Eela and Yell as well as a new water treatment works at Unst.

(JP/IT)