The current long dry spell has seen a reduction in the amount of hydro power available to Liberty British Aluminium’s smelter in Fort William. The company has conformed that as a result of weather conditions, it has been forced to lower output at the smelter by around five per cent. The Laggan Dam, on the River Spean, is where the smelter draws much of its hydro power, and water levels in Loch Laggan and elsewhere across the region are low due to the recent lack of rainfall. ‘We’re carrying out maintenance on those units which have been taken offine and hope to reactivate these soon,’ a Liberty spokesman told the Lochaber Times. ‘This has no impact on employment or our ability to meet orders from customers. Longer term, our plan is to invest in further renewable power capacity for the smelter to avoid any need to curtail production in future.’ Meanwhile, Scottish Water is asking customers to use water wisely to help maintain supplies. Following a sustained dry period without any signifi- cant rainfall, customer use has increased significantly. With the current weather conditions forecast to continue, Scottish Water is encouraging people to take simple but important steps to conserve public water supplies.
In some areas there has been a 30 per cent increase in demand for water and an additional 140 million litres is currently being produced and pushed through the system every day to meet current customer use. Scottish Water has been monitoring the situation closely and managing supplies across the country, including deploying additional resources to move water between distribution areas and tankering water to supplement local networks. Some water treatment works and distribution networks are working at near capacity to meet demand.
Average reservoir levels are generally normal for this time of year but the current level of use and continuing dry weather means stocks of stored water are reducing. Customers are being asked to use less water whenever possible. Businesses are also being asked to consider how they can use water more effciently.
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