South Yorkshire's tap water quality set for improvement

The company is to ‘flush’ the pipe network in Sheffield, Rotherham and Barnsley to improve water quality by reducing the presence of natural sediment that over time can stick to the inside of old pipes.

The work is part of a projected £13.5million programme that will involve the cleaning of large swathes of the company’s 19,000-mile pipe network that stretches across Yorkshire.

David Stevenson, head of water distribution at Yorkshire Water, said: “Drinking water quality within Yorkshire is already excellent, with 99.95 per cent of around 500,000 water tests we carried out in the last year meeting the stringent standards set by the Drinking Water Inspectorate.

“This project will improve water quality even further.”

Water quality will be improved by reducing mineral deposits in water pipes, such as iron and manganese, that on occasion can cause discoloured water to comes out of taps.

Specialist Yorkshire Water technicians will systematically operate valves on water mains in thousands of streets across the region.

Water will be flushed through the pipes at high speed, which will stir up and remove any historic deposits.

Yorkshire Water said no road closures would be necessary.