Burnley £4.5m project to ensure drinking water’s on tap
2:54pm Friday 21st September 2012 in News
By Tyrone Marshall, Reporter
CONSTRUCTION WORK Capacity will be increased at Swinden, a drinking water reservoir
A £4.5MILLION scheme to make sure reservoirs that provide drinking water to Burnley can cope at times of heavy rainfall has been announced.
United Utilities will be constructing a new overflow at Lee Green, along with improving an overflow at Swinden 1 Reservoir.
These improvements will mean that both reservoirs will be able to cope better during exceptional rainfall, with the main purpose of the scheme to increase the overflow capacity.
Carl Sanders, project manager, said: “There are many great benefits to increasing the overflow capacity of these reservoirs.
“Your mind can now be put at rest as the improvements to these two reservoirs mean they will now safely pass any major flood event without causing any damage to the dam.
“This is great news because it also means the reservoirs will remain fully functioning to supply the people of Burnley with drinking water.
“As it is an area rich in wildlife, we have also been working closely with the local fishing club to ensure they can still fish at certain points along the bank while we carry out this work.
“Of course all normal fishing sites will be back to full use when the project is complete.”
Both reservoirs were built in the late 1800s. At Swinden 1, the drinking water reservoir feeds into Worsthorne Water Treatment Works, supplying more than 150,000 customers in the Burnley area, with Lee Green, located opposite Swinden 1, having the job of supplying compensation water for the river.
Water levels at both reservoirs will be reduced during the project, with Lee Green being emptied.
Both will be returned to full capacity at the end of the project.
The project is due to be complete next autumn.
Comments(2)
davidinburnley
says...
8:42pm Fri 21 Sep 12
portolibero wrote:I believe we are due to get gas lighting the year after this project is completed and then electicity, or some such fad, the year after that.
Burnley catching up with some parts of sub-saharan Africa now. Congrats :)
I'm reliably informed that, if all goes well, they are thinking of giving the same things to somewhere called Blackburn in about 10 years time - although there are reservations about gas as it's thought the 'clever' folk of Blackburn may not be ready to cope with having something that dangerous available to them. It would be like asking a 4 year old to make a brew using a kettle and an open fire whilst preparing a 6 course meal surrounded by vats of sulphuric acid with no lids on. I for one hope that human evolution catches up in that town soon though, so they are also able to enjoy these modern wonders.
portolibero says...
3:23pm Fri 21 Sep 12