Future generations will have their water supplies secured in Whitby as work has begun on a big new service reservoir.
Yorkshire Water is replacing an underground reservoir, located off Castle Road close to Sneaton Castle, with one that’s larger and will then be able to cope with the projected population growth.
The company has dozens of these reservoirs in operation across the region, even though it’s highly unlikely that any customers would have actually seen any of them. Most are buried underground. These underground tanks vary in size and are used to store treated drinking water prior to it being fed through to customer’s taps. Many of these have been operating for as long as between 25 and 100 years and although they’re maintained regularly, Yorkshire Water will also be able to improve the quality of water received by Whitby’s customers with this investment.
The Castle Road site is the location for three of these service reservoirs. The one singled out for replacement was built in 1910, so it’s more than 100 years old.
Engineering specialists MMB (Mott McDonald Bentley) have been earmarked to execute the project, with their first job involving the demolition of the existing reservoir so as to clear up space for the new one.
Upon its completion in the summer of 2018, the reservoir will have the capacity to store up to 6 million litres of quality treated water. To put some perspective on that, the water storage capacity of an Olympic size swimming pool is 2.5 million litres.
Project Manager, Dave Ellis, said, “We’re committed to providing our customers with some of the best drinking water in the world. This investment should ensure that our customers in Whitby continue to receive a secure supply and excellent water quality for another 80 years.”
“For eight weeks from 6 February, temporary traffic lights will be in place on Castle Road whilst we demolish the existing reservoir’s retaining wall and set up access to the our site. All the site traffic will travel from the West, via the B1460, to avoid travelling through Whitby and a temporary speed limit of 40mph will be placed on Castle Road to allow vehicles to enter and exit the site safely. We’re sorry for any disruption the work and temporary speed restriction may cause.”
Neither Yorkshire Water nor MMB employees will require access to residents’ properties. Residents are requested to be on their guard against bogus callers. Genuine employees carry identity cards which can be verified by calling 0345 1 24 24 24 and they won’t mind waiting while their credentials are verified.