Barhale has been awarded a £16m contract by Yorkshire Water to deliver a new service reservoir (SRE) at Springhill, strengthening Scarborough’s long-term water resilience.

The four-year scheme, awarded as part of Yorkshire Water’s AMP8 programme to upgrade infrastructure, will safeguard water supplies for properties in and around the town.

Civil engineering, infrastructure and tunnelling specialist Barhale will construct the  17.3ML service reservoir, to be known as Springhill SRE No.3, together with an associated valve house. It will replace the 93-year-old SRE No.1 (15ML) and Springhill SRE No.2 (2.6ML) to accommodate both current and future levels of service.

The new reservoir will be constructed adjacent to the current site due to space constraints.

Yorkshire Water has begun carrying out surveys in the Sandybed area of Scarborough ahead of work to build a new service reservoir to replace the existing service reservoir, as part of a wider drive to upgrade its infrastructure.  

Service reservoirs are storage facilities for fully treated drinking water with a primary purpose of reducing the risk of supply interruptions to homes and businesses in the local area. 

The work forms part of Yorkshire Water’s £8.3bn investment into upgrading its infrastructure, improving customer experience, and bettering its impact on the environment. 

Cat Smart, project manager at Yorkshire Water, said: “This is one of many important projects across the region that will help us to continue servicing the local area with clean water reliably. Before we start the project, we need to complete detailed surveys to gather information about the area we’ll be working in so we can work as quickly as possible, effectively, and in the right way.”

Johannes Esterhuyse, regional director – Yorkshire at Barhale, said: “This project is fundamental to securing long-term water resilience for Scarborough and the surrounding communities. The new reservoir will provide the storage capacity needed to maintain service standards while allowing the safe retirement of existing infrastructure.

“We look forward to working closely with Yorkshire Water to deliver a durable asset that will serve customers for decades to come.”

Surveys are expected to complete in around two weeks. Construction of the service reservoir is currently planned in 2027.