A MAJOR project to improve the quality of water supplies to people and businesses in the Upper Swaledale area has now been completed.

Consumers will enjoy the benefit of the new supply later this month when the new £4.8million pipeline comes on stream.

The project, carried out by Yorkshire Water and its contractors Morrisons, involved the construction and burial of 25 kilometres of new 80mm water pipe and new pumping stations at Low Whita and Thwaite.

More than 400 households in Keld, Stonesdale, Angram, Muker, Healaugh, Low Whita, Reeth and Gunnerside will benefit from the new supply.

The new line will replace the old spring-fed supply at West Stonesdale which Yorkshire Water said did not always meet the exacting modern water quality standards – particularly after periods of heavy rain.

The line will be fed from Yorkshire Water’s reservoir at Thornton Steward in lower Wensleydale

Project manager David Standish said: “This important project will ensure that we continue to supply the area with the highest quality drinking water.

“This investment has a number of other benefits which include providing water from a more reliable source, reducing the risk of bursts, water supply interruptions and leakage.”

He added: "We would like to thank local residents and visitors for their continued patience during this essential work.”

The scheme has taken more than a year to complete and was praised by Richmond’s Tory MP Rishi Sunak after he inspected the work.

“This is an impressive project and will bring a more reliable and better quality water supply to hundreds of people in the upper dale,” he said.

“I am particularly pleased to see how well the re-instatement work on the route of the new pipe has taken.

“That and the way the new pumping stations have been designed and constructed means there has been minimal impact on the landscape.”