Work under way on new water main

Work has begun to install a new water main between Thornton Moor and Haworth to help reduce the risk of supply problems during droughts.

Yorkshire Water said the £4.5m scheme involved installing 3.7 miles (6.1km) of pipework to connect to an existing service reservoir at Thornton Moor, which stores clean drinking water.

The firm said it would ensure the Keighley area was connected to an additional water source.

The first part of the project involves the main being laid in Keighley Road, Denholme Road and Black Moor Road in Oxenhope. The work is due to be completed by the autumn.

Yorkshire Water said residents had been informed about localised disruption during the work.

The firm's project manager Jason Farrar said droughts were becoming increasingly common in the UK.

"We're constantly looking at when and where we need to build more resilience into our water network," he said.

"This is an important scheme for the area, alleviating some of the pressure felt in instances of drought when water resources might be running lower than usual."

The firm said the work followed previous investments in the Worth Valley area to boost resilience in the clean water system, including network reconfiguration and the reduction of leakage by 70%.

A £1.5m scheme is also under way at Ponden Water Pumping Station, which pumps raw water from Ponden reservoir to Oldfield Water Treatment Works, to improve resilience by enabling the site to take more water for treatment.

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