Underwater cleaning specialists Panton McLeod has used an innovative robot with an uncanny resemblance to Wall-E to ensure customers in Argyle & Bute get the purest supplies at the tap.

The Borders-based firm has been working with Scottish Water to ensure a series of service reservoirs in Dunoon remain clean for the tens of thousands of households that they supply in the region.

The facilities are part of a network of water structures, often hidden from public view, that are involved in delivering drinking water to millions of homes and businesses across Scotland.

Despite being out of sight, the large water containers have to be maintained to the highest standards. Traditionally such tanks could only be closely inspected or cleaned if they were emptied to allow experts inside - a time-consuming process that can prove costly and increase the risk of customers being left without water for short periods.

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But by using a remotely operated robot - known as a VR600 and which bears a striking resemblance to the Disney-Pixar character Wall-E - Panton McLeod were able to carry out the cleaning work without any need to take the reservoir out of service or with any risk of interrupting supplies to consumers.

The firm cleaned a total of six tanks in the Dunoon area, including service reservoirs at Rashfield and Bishop's Glen, in order to reduce manganese levels in the structures and ensure that the purity of the water continued to be exceptionally high.

Graeme Connor, Scottish Water's operations team leader in the Dunoon area, said: "We were delighted to work with Panton McLeod as part of our efforts to tackle the problem of manganese in the network.

"We chose to work with them because of their expertise in tank cleaning and because this novel way of carrying out the work helped minimise disruption to our customers in the area."

Paul Henderson, Operations Director with Panton McLeod, added: "We regularly carry out work for some of the biggest water firms across the UK, and we often use our underwater robots to ensure these big storage tanks are clean.

"Inspections and cleaning projects like these are standard practice and necessary to ensure that water supplies remain of the highest possible quality."

The firm's VR600 robot is a large-tracked machine that is manoeuvred along the floor of a service reservoir and cleans away any sediment or impurities in the water.

(GK/JM)