The Living River Tay

Published: 07/12/2023

The River Tay is an essential part of the landscape, recreation, commerce, and natural beauty of the Perth and Kinross Region.  It is inhabited by brown trout, Atlantic salmon, grayling, Arctic charr and pike. Otters, water voles, roe deer, red squirrels, bats, badgers, foxes, rabbits and other wildlife can be seen in the water or along the banks.

But the River Tay needs to be protected and treated with great care. As planning for the Taymouth Estate began, we identified opportunities to not just protect the river from additional threats, but to improve its health.

For example, when we began renovating the public toilets in Kenmore, we determined that raw sewage from the facility has been entering the Loch. During our remodeling, we reengineered the waste lines so that the facility will meet all applicable environmental requirements. The toilets will reopen in the coming months, and we will clean and maintain them for the benefit of local residents, visitors and the river alike.

When our engineers surveyed the wastewater treatment facility for the Castle, we determined that, although the infrastructure did not need to be replaced under local ordinances, it fell short of our own environmental standards. So, we undertook a costly and complex project to replace the entire system with one that will exceed government requirements by nearly 50 percent.

While some nearby wastewater systems may allow untreated wastewater to enter the river during storms, the infrastructure serving the Castle will preserve the health and safety of the river, including during the most severe weather.  Further, the Castle system is private and does not connect with or impact other wastewater systems system in any way.

Across the property, we are landscaping in a way that will prevent runoff and we are taking great care so that only environmentally responsible products will be used on the grounds.

We are going above and beyond out of a sense of respect – for the river, the wildlife that depends on it, and those who cherish it.  We see our effort to preserve the health and natural beauty of the River Tay as an ongoing initiative, and we are continually looking for new ways to be good stewards of the environment on and around the Castle grounds.