Building A Resilient and Sustainable Water and Wastewater Service for Scotland

Abstract

Climate change affects the managed water cycle in terms of drought, water quality and the need to manage flood risk in the urban environment. In Scotland, we already experience environmental events consistent with climate projections. Seasonal temperature and rainfall anomalies have seen droughts and floods in parts of the country, and Scottish Water is focussed on delivering water and wastewater services resilient to more extreme and variable conditions. Working with others and managing our landscapes are vital to climate change adaptation in water catchments and to sustainably drain our cities. Carbon emissions from services are high—water collection, treatment and supply, and the collection, treatment and recycling of wastewater are asset and energy-intensive processes. Scottish Water has committed to deliver net zero emissions across operational and investment activities by 2040 through reducing power consumption, generating renewable electricity, reducing the emission intensity of investment and increasing the carbon stored in its landholdings.