Scottish Water has installed 1,000 solar panels at a water treatment works (WTW) facility in Edinburgh.

The renewable scheme will now provide a quarter of the energy required at the Marchbank Water Treatment Works near Balerno.

Each panel is capable of generating 0.2GWh of electricity per annum for the facility, which produces 40 mega litres of water per day.

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Overall, the works serve 68,000 properties, with around 17,000 properties now receiving drinking water that has been treated via renewable sources.

Chris Toop, General Manager for Scottish Water's energy programme, said: "Electricity, as any consumer will know, can be expensive and that's why Scottish Water has been working to reduce the amount of energy that we need to purchase.

"The solar panels at Marchbank Water Treatment Works make this vital facility serving Edinburgh and West Lothian increasingly self efficient."

In the last two years, Scottish Water has doubled the amount of renewable energy which can be generated at treatment works and in water mains to over 50GWh.

(LM)