West Princes Street Gardens: Scottish Water get clean-up operation underway at Edinburgh beauty spot after flooding causes sewage to surface

A clean-up operation gets underway on Wednesday (July 14) in West Princes Street Gardens after recent heavy rainfall caused a section of the local beauty spot to become contaminated by sewage.

It comes after the equivalent of two thirds of the average monthly rainfall fell in parts of Edinburgh on July 4 – in just one hour.

On Tuesday, locals were disappointed to find the western part of the Gardens closed on one of the hottest days of the year in the Capital, but it is hoped it will reopen by Friday.

Scottish Water crews have attended the scene to assess the damage and will now undertake a two-day clean-up operation.

Flooding in Princes Street Gardens caused by the heavy rainfall on July 4.

A Scottish Water spokeswoman told the Evening News: “Very heavy rainfall recently caused flooding in parts of Edinburgh including a section of West Princes Street Gardens.

“We have investigated damage caused by surcharges from the sewer network and will start a clean up in the garden today (wed) and is expected to last two days. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

“In recent years the Edinburgh area has experienced a number of very intense, short duration storm events which can put the urban drainage systems, including the sewer network and road drains, under significant pressure and at risk of being overwhelmed.

“This can have the unfortunate consequence of flooding beyond Scottish Water’s control.

“We remind people to not to dispose of items like wipes and sanitary products or fats, oils, or grease down loos or drains to help keep our sewers flowing.”

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.