Around 70 properties in Garve, located on the Black Water River in Ross-shire, are now benefiting from the completion of a £1.4m project by Scottish Water.

The project involved the upgrading of the existing water supply and included the installation of a new 14.4km underground water pipe, which runs from Strathpeffer Upper Service Reservoir. The pipe is connected to the now-retired Garve Water Treatment Works (WTW) and runs to the tank which supplies the village. An above-ground pumping kiosk – as part of a booster pump station – has also been located on the new water main, 800 metres west of the existing Strathpeffer Service Reservoir.


David Kitching, Project Manager for Scottish Water said: "We have worked to maintain the existing water supply by installing new assets which will ensure Scottish Water continues to supply clear, fresh drinking water to all connected properties fed from the Garve Water Treatment Works. This work and investment also helps to future proof the network and services for many years to come.

"Garve WTW had reached the end of its operational life and our local asset management and planning professionals looked at various options and decided that the most cost effective and convenient option for customers in years to come would be to retire the WTW at Garve and construct a new main to provide a treated water supply from the Strathpeffer service reservoir.

"The old supply from Garve was treated by the chlorination method. The new supply is treated by a method called chloramination which is widely used globally and offers more consistent water quality, especially across long rural water networks."

(JP/CD)