RSE attend the opening of Loch Ness Water Treatment Works (WTW)

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On Friday 15^th of September, RSE attended the official opening of the Loch Ness Water Treatment Works (WTW) along with Scottish Water and members of the Fort Augustus and Glenmoriston communities. The opening, which was carried out by local MSP Kate Forbes, marked the end of a project which started back in 2018.

The new Loch Ness WTW modular building consists of 12 transportable Treatment Units and houses innovative nanofiltration membrane technology to improve the water supply quality for Highland communities in Fort Augustus and Invermoriston.

Despite the successful completion of the project, our team were presented with a variety of challenges which tested the capabilities of our team and required innovative water treatment solutions to be implemented. One of the main complications faced by the project team was the extremely tight sight footprint, requiring the design team to redesign the WTW to be split over two levels to maximise the space available. This created some hydraulic challenges as the team had to ensure there was no unnecessary pumping required.

The team were additionally challenged to build the new modular building in isolation from the existing WTW as a way of allowing operations to continue as normal until the point of switchover. The offsite-manufacturing nature of the WTW delivered by RSE allowed for certainty and savings in time, cost, resource, logistics and carbon emissions. In addition, by completing the mechanical and electrical fabrication and installation in our specialised workshop, only 15% of the total project hours were spent on site, which greatly improved the cost, health and safety and carbon performance of the project.

Our teams are proud of the works delivered for Loch Ness WTW, with RSE completing the project hitting programme and budget targets and with water into supply commencing in July 2022. The project also allowed for valuable training opportunities to be provided to our upcoming talent, with 26 apprentices having contributed over 8,000 hours in total to the projects delivery The innovative solutions to the problems faced during the completion of the project have helped to ensure that the communities surrounding Loch Ness, including Invermoriston and Fort Augustus, will now have a reliable and clean water source secured for the future.

It is a huge pleasure to mark the completion of this impressive investment – an example of twenty-first century engineering, made in the Highlands to serve the future of Highland communities. The investment that has been made secures a sustainable year-round water supply for rural communities in the Great Glen and their thriving economy. At the same time as making use of the area’s most famous natural asset, the work has been supporting high-quality jobs and exciting training opportunities less than an hour’s drive away in Muir Ord.

RSE is proud to see the work that we have done on this exciting project is being recognised at the highest level, and is providing high-quality jobs within the communities that we operate. We look forward to continuing our innovative approach to all current and future projects.