Turn off taps as you brush your teeth, beg water bosses
SCOTS are being urged to show restraint in a bid to conserve dwindling water supplies.
They have been asked to reduce water usage amid growing fears of severe shortages this summer.
The warning comes after consumers drained public supplies by an additional 200 million litres over a two-day period last week.
Emergency plans have already been drawn up by Scottish Water, with road tankers drafted in to deliver supplies to areas where the first signs of drought are appearing, such as the Isle of Arran.
Households are being strongly advised to reduce unnecessary water use, especially in gardens.
They have also been asked to take shorter showers, turn off taps when brushing their teeth, and to limit how often they use washing machines and dishwashers.
Kes Juskowiak, water operations manager at Scottish Water, said: ‘The warm, dry weather has seen an increase in the amount of water being used by customers and the amount we need to put into the system to meet that demand.
‘We will continue to monitor our reservoirs and other water sources closely. Continued warm weather, a lack of rainfall and high use levels in the home and garden could put pressure on supplies in the days and weeks ahead.’
Mr Juskowiak added: ‘We are doing all we can to maintain water supply to customers. That includes moving water around the network and where necessary bringing in additional supplies to communities via road tankers.’
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) has also issued a water scarcity warning ahead of the heatwave forecast to hit Scotland tomorrow.
In the east, areas such as the Dee, Firth of Forth, Almond and Tyne have been raised to moderate scarcity, which means businesses that are based there should only extract water when ‘absolutely necessary’.
Among the sectors that could be worst affected are whisky distilleries, farming and hydroelectricity, leading to the possibility of power cuts.
Sepa confirmed the Clyde, Helmsdale, Earn and Spey catchment areas are now at alert levels.
The dry weather means river
‘We are doing all we can to maintain supplies’
and groundwater levels across Scotland are low. The agency had issued an ‘early warning’ several weeks ago over the risk of shortages in the southern half of the country following drier than average weather in March and April.
Nathan Crichlow-Watton, head of water and planning at the agency, said: ‘The situation continues to deteriorate in the east, with most areas now in alert or moderate scarcity level.
‘We’re also now seeing conditions worsen in the south-west and businesses that rely on water in this part of the country should be thinking about how they can be more efficient.’