Scottish Water teams in Inverness and Orkney kitted out with bespoke vehicles

Four bespoke new vehicles are set to make clearing drainage chokes quicker and more efficient for Scottish Water teams working across the Highlands and Orkney during the coronavirus lockdown.

The 7.5t RioCom jet vac combination units, which were specifically designed with Scottish Water’s input, have now been delivered to sewer response teams based in Inverness and Orkney and will remove the need for both a jetting van and a vactor to respond to drainage incidents.

The smaller size and light weight build of the vehicles mean they are able to access areas where a larger vacuum vehicle would struggle, and also have powerful lights along both sides of the vehicle to help highlight the working area when needed.

Given current circumstances, they have the added benefit of requiring to be manned by only one person allowing easier social distancing. As combination vehicles they should also help improve the rate of issues being resolved during one visit – helping to reduce contact time and the time vehicles spend travelling.

Kenneth Kentley, Fleet Specification Engineer for Scottish Water, said: “These units offer so many more options in a single unit and will help massively in our ability to deliver for our customers.

“As a company, we’re very much focused on the environment and our vehicles are the public face of that – by reducing the number and size of vehicles having to attend incidents in this area, these new units will also help us reduce our carbon impact.”