Yorkshire Water begins borehole testing at Brayton Barff

Yorkshire Water will start preliminary testing the viability of a new borehole at Brayton Barff, near Selby, as part of its water resource management plan on Monday 12 May. 

Boreholes are used to extract water from deep underground, where it is naturally filtered through soil and rock, requiring minimal treatment before it is safe to use. 

Brayton Barff is one of a number of prospective bore holes aimed at securing sustainable water supply to meet Yorkshire’s growing customer demand, particularly pertinent during the recent spell of warm weather with little or no rainfall.

Contract partners, Ward & Burke, and Yorkshire Water are working closely with ecologists, environmental and wildlife experts as well as the Friends of Brayton Barff (FOBB) local campaign group to keep disruption to a minimum as project manager, Liam Broome explains:

“Boreholes are a vital part of our long-term strategy plan to maintain a safe and reliable water supply to customers and protect the environment over the long term and we’ll be taking a phased approach to test if this is a viable site for a borehole.  We are working with our contract partners and biodiversity and environmental experts to keep disruption to a minimum on this much-loved reservoir site.

“We know that Brayton Barff is recognised as an important ancient woodland featuring mature Oak, Scots Pins and Hazel tress as well as bluebells and a breeding habitat for Tawny Owls, sparrow hawks and rich flora and fauna.  It’s important to us that we can work alongside Friends of Brayton Barff to support our efforts to protect the area’s natural beauty and biodiversity as we carry out this essential exploratory work.” 

The first phase will start on site next week with flushing activity on the existing, redundant borehole located next to the car park, which is no longer fit for purpose.  A section of the car park will be closed for five days to keep everyone safe whilst this phase is completed.  Depending on the results of the initial investigation work, phase two of the project including test drilling and ground investigations at the top of Brayton Barff will start later this summer.

Limited parking will still be available, and we’d kindly ask visitors to keep dogs on lead whilst this work is ongoing.  Yorkshire Water, together with Ward & Burke will be working in association with Friends of Brayton Barff to preserve the biodiversity and ecology of the area.  This work is part of our water resources management plan to help ensure we have sufficient water to Yorkshire’s customer demands in the future.