Windermere’s water mains are set to get a £500,000 upgrade.
United Utilities is gearing up to start work on just over 1.1km of water mains along a section of Lake Road on January 12.
The water firm said the work aims to improve the resilience of the drinking water network and help minimise the risk of bursts and leaks.
Work is set to take up to 12 weeks to complete and will be carried out between St Herbert’s Church and the junction with Beresford Road.
As the water mains are located in each side of the road, both will be upgraded one side at a time to avoid a road closure and significant diversion.
Site investigations will be carried out from next week, between Monday December 8 and Friday December 12 to confirm the exact location, material and size of the main.
Temporary traffic lights will be in use while the investigations are carried out.
Paul Forshaw, the water firm’s county business lead for water in Cumbria, said: “This is a major scheme to upgrade the water mains running through Windermere.
“We’re replacing old mains with more durable, flexible pipework which will improve the resilience and reliability of the drinking water network by helping minimise the risk of bursts and leaks.”
The project is part of United Utilities’ region-wide £380 million programme to improve more than 925km of mains during the next five years. Over 200km of these are in Cumbria.
Paul Forshaw added: “We know these works can be disruptive and we are working closely with our delivery partner, M Group, to keep this to a minimum.
“To help with this we are planning to use a technique called slip-lining as much as possible. This is where new pipeline is inserted into the existing water main to minimises the need for digging large trenches and road closures.
“We have planned the work to start in January to avoid the peak holiday and tourism season.”
United Utilities said it is contacting customers in the area to let them know about the works.
