Work begins on £12m investment to improve water quality in Chorley’s River Yarrow

A £12m project to install a new underground stormwater tank at Duxbury Mill in Chorley is now underway.

The new tank is being constructed in land adjacent to Myles Standish Way. Capable of storing three million litres of stormwater, it will play a key role in improving water quality in the River Yarrow, by reducing the need for storm overflows to operate during periods of heavy rainfall.

It is one of a wider £30m investment in Chorley where five projects to improve river water quality will be delivered by 2030.

Simon Holding, County Business Lead for Wastewater Services in Lancashire explained: “We have a similar project which is progressing well at nearby Southlands School. The combined capacity of these new tanks is more than six million litres of water – that’s more than two and a half Olympic-sized pools.

“They act as huge holding areas for the extra rainfall that enters the sewer network in times of heavy rainfall. Creating this extra storage means that it isn’t all hitting the wastewater treatment works at the same time and the system is less likely to be overwhelmed.”

The first phase of work involves setting up a site compound. While this is carried out construction vehicles will access the site via Carr Lane. Once the initial preparation is complete, all major construction traffic will access the site via Myles Standish Way. Standard working hours are 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday.

Across Lancashire, United Utilities will deliver more than 90 projects to reduce storm overflows and improve the river environment. More information about work across the county is available at www.unitedutilities.com/lancashire