£1.5m mains replacement work starts Richmond

Yorkshire Water has begun a £1.5m project to replace 5.7km of water mains in West Layton and Gayles in Richmond today (Monday 16 February). 

The work, which will improve the reliability of drinking water supply, reduce leakage, and prevent water mains bursts in the area, is part of Yorkshire Water’s £8.3bn investment into Yorkshire over the next five years. 

Nichola Fairbairn project manager at Yorkshire Water, said: “We are undertaking a huge upgrade to our clean water infrastructure, with 238km of mains set to be replaced by April this year. This forms part of a wider £406m investment in replacing more than 1,000km of water mains across the region by 2030.” 

Contract partner United Infrastructure will be replacing the mains pipework on four roads: Collier Lane, West Lane and Greenless Lane in West Layton, and West Street in Gayles. 

Yorkshire Water is prioritising poor performing assets that will benefit most from mains renewals - areas prone to disruption, bursts and supply interruptions. In North Yorkshire, that means over 90km of mains will be replaced in the first year of the investment programme. 
 
Nichola added: “Once we’re finished, bursts and potential loss of supply in the area will be much less likely, and we’ll be delivering the quality and reliability of service that our customers expect. 

“We’ll be working quickly and doing everything that we can to keep disruption to the community to a minimum whilst we deliver this important work – and thank everyone in the area for their patience in advance.” 
 
Local residents have been contacted in regard to any localised disruption. 

This project is the latest mains replacement scheme to start in North Yorkshire with many already complete, including around the villages of Grassington, Sutton, and Thirn to Thornton. 

The wider mains replacement programme is a significant part of Yorkshire Water’s £8.3bn investment into infrastructure and customer experience by 2030.