Case Study: Scottish Water reduces water treatment costs with Rezatec satellite peatland intelligence

Reducing Water Treatment Costs For Scottish Water By using Satellite data to Assess and Monitor Peatlands

Scottish Water, which manages over 230 water treatment works across more than 400 catchments, faced rising treatment costs because much of its source water comes from peatland and organic-rich soils that contribute dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and degrade water quality. To better understand and manage this challenge, Scottish Water worked with Rezatec to find a cost-effective, non-disruptive way to assess the condition of its large peatland estate.

Rezatec delivered a web-based satellite-data portal and customised peatland analytics, using Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 imagery plus ground data to create maps and layers for peat depth, vegetation indicators, relative soil moisture, anthropogenic disturbance, peatland integrity and water quality risk. The solution helped Scottish Water identify degraded areas, target restoration and surveys more efficiently, and reduce unnecessary field visits across remote terrain, ultimately lowering the operational cost of monitoring and improving the ability to protect source water quality.

Scottish Water

Zoë Frogbrook

Technical Lead