A £4.8m project to bring better quality water to hundreds of residents and businesses in Upper Swaledale is nearing completion.
Residents will enjoy the benefit of the new supply later this month when a new 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.
The work took more than a year to complete and was inspected last week by Rishi Sunak, MP for Richmond.
He said: “This is an impressive project and will bring a more reliable and better quality water supply to hundreds of people in the upper dale.
“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.”
More than 400 households in Keld, Stonesdale, Angram, Muker, Healaugh, Low Whita, Reeth
and Gunnerside will benefit from the new supply.
A spokeswoman for Yorkshire Water said the old spring-fed supply at West Stonesdale did not always meet exacting modern water quality standards during periods of heavy rain. The new supply would come from Yorkshire Water’s reservoir at Thornton Steward in lower Wensleydale
David Standish, Yorkshire Water Project Manager 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.
"We would like to thank local residents and visitors for their continued patience during this essential work.”