A planned maintenance operation at the Lossiemouth wastewater treatment works should not cause any environmental impact for the local community.
That was the assurance given by the communities team regional manager for Scottish Water as work on draining, cleaning and refurbishing pipes at the works got under way on Tuesday.
Four treatment basins at the plant on the outskirts of the Moray town will have their access hatches opened for the removal of a residual mixture of sludge, sand and silt – part of a standard planned activity ensuring the ongoing effective and efficient treatment of wastewater at the plant.
A spokesman for plant managers Veolia said: “As an extra measure Veolia will employ an odour minimiser to reduce any off-site odours.
“We anticipate that the works will be completed within around 10 days at which point the full treatment process will be reinstated. We don’t anticipate any environmental impact from the short term reduction in treatment capacity and as part of our communication with Regulators, both SEPA and Moray Council have also been notified.
“This is a standard planned activity which ensures ongoing effective and efficient treatment of wastewater. Two basins were successfully refurbished last year in a similar manner.”
Following discussions with local community representatives Scottish Water have created a new Freephone number for customers wishing to make enquiries. The new 0800 0778778 number will operate in tandem with existing contact numbers.