Scotland’s publicly-owned water and wastewater services organisation has been re-accredited by the British Standards Institution (BSI) for its compliance levels.
To achieve certification, BSI assessors looked at Scottish Water’s energy efficiency projects, energy performance at water and wastewater treatment works and how energy is used in its workplaces – including LED lighting and electric car charging points.
Accepting the certificate from BSI director Andrew Launn, Scottish Water’s chief operating officer, Peter Farrer, said: “This can help us systematically reduce energy use which has an obvious and tangible link to our ambition to go beyond net zero emissions by 2040.
“I’m delighted to receive this on behalf of everyone who is involved in managing energy in Scottish Water. We will maximise on this to help us meet our emissions target.”
The certification – ISO 50001:2018 – provides evidence that Scottish Water’s approach to managing energy use drives performance in achieving emissions reductions at the same time as delivering services effectively to customers.
Colin Duguid, of the Lean Management Systems team – which works with teams across Scottish Water to drive improvement, added: “Achieving this standard demonstrates we are managing energy use effectively, reducing emissions, and working to meet environmental targets.
“We developed an Energy Management Standard over the last couple of years, working with wastewater and water operations, wastewater energy efficiency as well as the energy and property maintenance teams.
“It initially looked at the top 10 energy-consuming wastewater treatment works, as a pilot, and now covers 90% of our energy use across Scottish Water – including energy sources, energy purchasing, billing and consumption.”