Recycled water used to tackle Cupar fire

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service was called to a fire at a waste transfer station situated 200 metres from Scottish Water’s Cupar Waste Water Treatment Works.

Nine crews were tackling the blaze when they were told they could hook their fire hoses to the outlet pipes at the works.

This saw them use treated waste water to tackle the fire. Once used it then flowed to a nearby Scottish Water pumping station and then back to the WwTW where it had originally come from before being reused over and over again until the fire was eventually put out several hours later.

Innes Petrie, Scottish Water’s sewer response team leader, said: “This really did give new meaning to circular innovation – in my 33 years in the water industry I have never heard of waste water which has been through the full treatment process being used to fight a fire and then to return to same works and used again the same way. It meant the same water was being used over and over again.”