Northumbrian Water has invested £5m to improve tap water quality to around half a million customers across Tyneside.
The water company has launched a pipe cleaning programme which will involve cleaning nine kilometres of strategic water mains at 18 different locations in and around Newcastle, Gateshead and North Tyneside.
This is part of a larger £66 million cleaning programme, which began in 2010 and has seen improvements to more than 221 kilometres of strategic mains cleaned to date.
The final location to be completed is on the West Road, Newcastle (A186), with work starting on Monday, 1st March 2021.
The works, which will take around ten weeks to complete, will focus on a 300-metre section of road to the east of Two Ball Lonnen Roundabout and will take place predominantly within the chevroned middle area of road.
Northumbrian Water’s supply partners, Fastflow Pipeline Services, will be carrying out the work, and there will be no effect on water supplies while it is being carried out.
There may be slight traffic delays when temporary two-way temporary traffic lights are put in place, and a lane is closed as work is carried out – however this will not be for the full duration of the ten-week period.
Project Manager, Graeme Ridley, said: "This vital work is being carried out in order to future proof our water supplies and ensure that our customers continue to receive excellent and high-quality tap water.
"It’s important that we get to work on this main, and when this is done, we will have completed the full overarching larger-scale project which has been ongoing for the past 11 years.
"I am incredibly proud of the team and our partners at Fastflow for the work they are doing to finish this project."