An investment of around £10 million has been secured to complete three water infrastructure projects in Shetland.

Scottish Water's funding will help support improvements to the two public drinking water supplies serving Mainland, Shetland.

A £2 million project at Eela Water Water Treatment Works is already underway to extend the existing building and install a new rapid gravity filter, increasing the capacity of the works and providing more flexibility to meet demand from customers. The existing four filters will also be refurbished to ensure they are working as efficiently as possible.

In addition, a £1.7 million project is due to start this autumn at Sandy Loch Water Treatment Works and will also see a fifth rapid gravity filter installed, with refurbishment of the existing filters that supply customers in Lerwick, Scalloway, South Mainland, Burra, Trondra and Bressay.

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Finally, a £6 million project will see two existing steel drinking water storage tanks at Staney Hill replaced by a new twin compartment tank with greater storage capacity at Sandy Loch. A new gravity pipeline, just under three kilometres long, will connect Sandy Loch to the existing network at Holmsgarth Brae and remove the requirement to pump water over the Staney Hill. 

The work is being delivered by Scottish Water's alliance partner ESD.

Scottish Water's Water Treatment Team Leader for Shetland Alan Blance said: "Scottish Water is investing significantly in its infrastructure for Shetland through these three projects, which will help ensure our customers continue to receive high quality, great tasting water. 

"Increasing the capacity of the two water treatment works through the addition of these extra filters, and installing the new clear water tank, will give us more flexibility in how we operate and allow us to build in some capacity for future growth."   

Jim Anderson, Scottish Water's Customer Service Team Leader for Shetland, added: "There should be no impact on normal water supply for our customers while work is taking place at either Eela Water or Sandy Loch. Local residents may notice a small amount of additional traffic travelling to the sites and we apologise if this causes any inconvenience for road users. 

"We are holding an open event to engage with the local community ahead of work getting underway at Sandy Loch and Staney Hill this autumn. With our team from ESD and their contractors, we want to keep any disruption to a minimum and let customers know why this work is taking place. I would encourage anyone with an interest in the work to come along and see us at Sound Hall on Wednesday."

(CM/LM)