A major milestone has been reached in Scottish Water's £30 million upgrade of water services in the Scottish Borders.

The 'last pour' of concrete has been put onto the roof of the new clear water tank being constructed just off the A7 near Selkirk.

The new water storage tank is capable of holding nearly 5 Olympic- sized swimming pools worth of water with a total capacity of 12.5 million litres.

The investment will deliver improved treatment processes, environmental benefits and a more resilient supply to 20,000 homes and businesses in several areas including Selkirk, Galashiels, Melrose, Lauder, Fountainhall and Newton St Boswells.

-- Advertisement --

Over 20,000m3 of rock was excavated from the site to create the base footprint for the tank. The rock was crushed and re-used on site taking away the need to remove it and helping support Scottish Water's drive to Net Zero carbon by 2040.

The new tank will store water after it has been treated and will monitor the quality of it before it goes into supply. It will provide additional strength in the network if there are any issues elsewhere. Once completed, the tank will be landscaped to blend into the hillside. The work is being carried out by the utility's alliance partner ESD.

Craig Horsburgh, Project Manager for ESD, said: "There were many concrete pours involved in the construction phase - with a total concrete pour volume amounting to over 3580m3. This final pour delivers a key milestone for this project."

Now the main construction of the tank itself is complete, work will begin on the pipework which will connect to the new tank and supply it with treated water from Howden Water Treatment Works, currently being upgraded by ESD. This part of the project is due to completed by the end of the year.