Question reference: S6W-10252
- Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Date lodged: 11 August 2022
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Current status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 7 September 2022
Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many waste water treatment works (a) there are and (b) monitoring exercises (i) were carried out during the Chemical Investigation Programme 2 (CIP2) and (ii) are planned for CIP3, in each case broken down by local authority.
Answer
Scottish Water operates 1,857 wastewater treatment works (WWTW) across Scotland; this figure includes septic tanks.
Scottish Water works closely with the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) to develop the Chemical Investigation Programmes (CIP). Phase 1 of the CIP2 Scotland project involved sampling at 20 low dilution WWTWs monthly over a period of 2 years. Phase 2 of the CIP2 Scotland project involved sampling at a further 24 WWTWs monthly over a 6 month period for substances identified of further concern. 4 septic tanks were sampled as part of CIP2 Scotland. CIP3 Scotland is sampling at 5 WWTWs for substances of emerging concern monthly over a year starting in June 2022. CIP3 Scotland will be sampling at 5 coastal WWTWs monthly for 6 months.
WWTWs were chosen due to their low dilution as these WWTWs pose the greatest risk of not achieving the Environmental Quality Standard where the substance is controlled by existing legislation or the Predicted Non Effect Concentration (PNEC) where there are no controls in legislation. Dilution varies according to the population served by a WWTW and the volume of water in the receiving watercourse.
The following table gives a breakdown of the WWTWs sampled in each Local Authority Area in Scotland.
Local Authority | Number of WWTWs in each Local Authority | WWTWs sampled in CIP2 Scotland phase 1 | WWTWs sampled in CIP2 Scotland phase 2 | Septic tanks sampled in CIP2 Scotland | Sampled in CIP3 Scotland for emerging substances | Sampled in CIP3 Scotland for emerging substances |
Aberdeen City | 7 | |||||
Aberdeenshire | 190 | 9 | ||||
Angus | 61 | 1 | 1 | |||
Argyll and Bute | 149 | 1 | ||||
City of Edinburgh | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
Clackmannanshire | 6 | |||||
Dumfries and Galloway | 182 | |||||
Dundee City | 2 | |||||
East Ayrshire | 30 | |||||
East Dunbartonshire | 2 | |||||
East Lothian | 28 | 1 | 1 | |||
East Renfrewshire | 3 | |||||
Falkirk | 11 | |||||
Fife | 61 | 2 | 2 | 1 | ||
Glasgow City | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | ||
Highland | 300 | 1 | 1 | |||
Inverclyde | 1 | |||||
Midlothian | 13 | 2 | ||||
Moray | 63 | 1 | ||||
Na H-Eileanan an Iar | 171 | |||||
North Ayrshire | 33 | |||||
North Lanarkshire | 15 | 3 | 3 | 1 | ||
Orkney Islands | 38 | |||||
Perth and Kinross | 91 | 1 | ||||
Renfrewshire | 3 | |||||
Scottish Borders | 98 | 1 | ||||
Shetland Islands | 81 | |||||
South Ayrshire | 22 | |||||
South Lanarkshire | 125 | 1 | 2 | 2 | ||
Stirling | 38 | 1 | ||||
West Dunbartonshire | 4 | 2 | ||||
West Lothian | 22 | 5 | 2 | 1 |