The Cromarty Firth – famed for its birdlife, seals and cruise liner visits – is set for a boost as work begins to construct a £12.3million treatment works to clean up sewage from Alness and Invergordon, the only Highland towns without modern waste water treatment.

The state of the art facility, at Belleport, will produce a high quality effluent that can be dispersed in the firth with minimal impact on the environment. Previously raw sewage was discharged from outfall pipes at Alness Point – a Site of Special Scientific Interest – and Rosskeen on the outskirts of Invergordon.

As an interim measure while the new works is built, Scottish Water has invested £4.6million rerouting all waste water to Rosskeen where new screens provide a basic level of treatment.

The total package of investment in Alness and Invergordon comes to almost £17million and is part of Scottish Water’s 2010 Vision for the Highlands, the £200million campaign of improvements across the region. £50million is being invested in Easter Ross while the average household water bill remains below £1 a day.

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“VITAL TO HELP PROTECT THE ENVIRONMENT”

Joanna Peebles, Scottish Water’s Communities Manager for the Highlands, said: “It’s great to see this project starting as it’s vital to help protect the important environment of the Cromarty Firth. It was originally proposed in 2004 but is only now getting underway due to a public inquiry and discussions with landowners. We held an information day last summer for local people to view the plans and we’ve been keeping the local liaison group of councillors and community councils informed.”

Glyn Lloyd, Project Manager for Scottish Water Solutions, said: “This modern treatment works will afford the area’s environment the same level of protection enjoyed elsewhere in the Highlands. The new works has been designed to ensure that new homes being built and planned in the area can connect to the public sewer network. It’s a major construction project but we’ll do everything we can to keep disruption to a minimum.”

MODERN TREATMENT

The works will be located off the B817 mid-way between Alness and Invergordon. The existing sewage sites at Alness Point and Rosskeen are being converted into pumping stations which will eventually transfer all waste water to the new works through new pipelines.

Traffic management will be required outside the entrance of the construction site for safety reasons. Motorists are thanked for their patience.

The new works will be similar to modern treatment facilities installed in recent years by Scottish Water at Stornoway and Thurso, which use a biological process rather than chemicals to clean up the sewage. Waste water is fed into tanks where solid matter settles, allowing liquid to be drawn off. Bacteria digest the remaining sewage and are fed by blowing oxygen into the mix.

The end result is a purified liquid that can be dispersed with minimal impact on the environment using the existing underwater outfall pipe from Rosskeen, and a solid matter that is dried out and neutralised to remove any bacteria before being taken away for landscaping or use on agricultural land.

The works will contain modern odour control technology and will be surrounded by landscaped earth and trees to hide it from view.

It is expected that the works will be operational by this time next year.