Numbers reveal the challenges facing water utility
People in Scotland consumed more than 470 billion litres of water in 2025, in the midst of some of the driest weather in almost two centuries, according to the latest Scottish Water figures.
The statistics show that throughout the year, domestic and business customers across Scotland used a total of 472 billion litres of water – the equivalent of about 189,000 Olympic swimming pools.
Scottish Water’s year of 2025 in numbers tells a story of massive ongoing challenges on water resources related to climate change and of huge investment in improvements to its infrastructure and services to customers.
The weather – and specifically a lack of rain earlier this year and for much of the summer – is what prompted the company to call on customers to use water as efficiently as possible. The publicly-owned utility faced these challenges to maintain normal supplies across the country but particularly in parts of the east.
Scotland experienced its driest January to April period since 1964, which was the 15th driest in the past 190 years. In the east, it experienced its driest January to August period since 1959 and the fifth driest in the past 190 years.
One of Scottish Water’s reservoirs which was affected the most by this was Backwater in Glen Isla, where data shows it was the driest year since 1972-73. Backwater reached its lowest recorded level in more than 40 years when storage was at 31.3% on October 30.
Scottish Water is always reminding customers that water is our most precious natural resource and is always worth saving - even in winter – because resources next summer could be lower as a result of below average rainfall over winter and spring.
The company worked hard to boost local supplies where needed and one way it did so was by tankering water in – with a total of 3933 vehicles deployed to the end of November. An average capacity for a tanker is 24,000 litres – a total of 94.3 million litres.
Scottish Water also faced continuing challenges with waste water and the numbers there were no less stark.
A spokesperson said: “It costs the company about £10m per year to clear chokes or blockages in sewers – often caused by flushing the wrong things down toilets such as wet wipes and sanitary products. The number of annual chokes ranges from about 34,000 to 36,000 and the average cost of clearing one is £297.”
The utility is always investing to improve services, and did so throughout 2025. It also restored over 600 hectares of peatland in 2025 at various sites around Scotland, including around Backwater Reservoir.
The spokesperson continued: “Delivering skills and opportunities for young people – the future of the water industry – is key to Scottish Water and in 2025 we had 176 Modern Apprentices and 81 graduates employed.”
The company also encourages customers to sign up to its free text alert service to stay informed about potential disruption, and in 2025 more than 68,000 did so, taking the total number to more than 124,000.
The spokesperson added: “The numbers for 2025 demonstrate clearly how people in Scotland value their water and the most significant is that the percentage of customers who rate Scottish tap water as being world class is 89%, according to research by YouGov.”
More information is available at www.yourwateryourlife.co.uk/save