Scottish Water has warned of the prospect of further contamination problems in the west of Scotland after plans for a new treatment works were thrown out.

The authority has vowed to appeal against a decision by East Dunbartonshire Council to reject a proposal for a new �100m water treatment plant at Mugdock Reservoir, near Milngavie.

It said the vote delays efforts to bring water quality up to European standards.

John Rae: "This plant is needed"

And it warned of possible further contamination alerts like the cryptosporidium problem at Mugdock which affected thousands of homes in west central Scotland earlier this month.

John Rae, general manager of Scottish Water, said that "public amenity has been put up higher on the agenda than public health".

He said: "We currently do not supply water that fully meets the regulations.

"Until we get this new treatment plant we won't meet that aspiration and the clear message that we need to get across is that this plant is needed.

"The recent events in the last few weeks demonstrate that all too ably."

Before Tuesday's council meeting, Scottish Water had claimed that the proposed plant would have state-of-the-art filtration processes able to remove all parasites, including cryptosporidium.

Civic amenity

East Dunbartonshire's planning officials had recommended the plan for approval but councillors voted by 9-7 to reject it.

During the meeting, campaigners argued that building the treatment works at Mugdock reservoir, which forms part of Mugdock Country Park, would lead to the loss of an important civic amenity and tourist attraction in the area.

Laurie Russell, of the Friends of Milngavie Reservoir group, said: "We accept that we need a water treatment works and we accept that Scottish Water has to meet EU water directives.

"We also accept that it should be in our area but this was the wrong site and there are questions about whether it was the right treatment works."

Laurie Russell: Right plan, wrong site

Mr Rae said Scottish Water would be making "a measured response" and that an appeal was likely.

An appeal against the decision could take as long as a year, delaying attempts to bring Glasgow's water supply up to European standards by 2005.

A Scottish Executive spokesman said that Scottish Water has two months in which to lodge an appeal to the Planning Minister Margaret Curran.

The appeals process usually takes nine to 12 months.

Local MSP Des McNulty called on the Environment Minister Ross Finnie to step in and sort out the problem.

He said: "I think the ball is now very much in Ross Finnie's court.

"He has to actually grab hold of what is happening at Scottish Water and show that there is a proper site selection process and deliver what is required."