Waskerley Reservoir is the largest of a group of three reservoirs located on
Muggleswick Common,
County Durham
County Durham, officially simply Durham, is a ceremonial county in North East England.UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. The county borders Northumberland and Tyne an ...
, with the others being
Smiddy Shaw and
Hisehope Reservoirs.
The
reservoir
A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation.
Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...
, which was constructed in 1877, is owned and operated by
Northumbrian Water
Northumbrian Water Limited is a water company in the United Kingdom, providing mains water and sewerage services in the English counties of Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, Durham and parts of North Yorkshire, and also supplying water as Essex ...
.
[Waskerley, Smiddyshaw, Hisehope (pdf downloadable at )] It and Smiddy Shaw—which in turn is fed by Hisehope—feed water under gravity to a water treatment works at Honey Hill.
[)] Because the three reservoirs cannot meet the full demand of Honey Hill, Waskerley can be replenished by a gravity feed from
Burnhope Reservoir or, if necessary, by pumping water from the
Tyne-Tees Tunnel via an
airshaft.
Waskerley and its two neighbouring reservoirs are located within the
Muggleswick, Stanhope and Edmundbyers Commons and Blanchland Moor Site of Special Scientific Interest
A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain, or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland, is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...
, which itself forms part of the
North Pennines
The North Pennines are the northernmost section of the Pennines, a range of hills which run north–south through northern England. They run along the border between County Durham and Northumberland in the east and Cumbria in the west, and are ...
Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB; , AHNE) is one of 46 areas of countryside in England, Wales, or Northern Ireland that has been designated for conservation due to its significant landscape value. Since 2023, the areas in England an ...
.
See also
*
List of reservoirs and dams in the United Kingdom
This is a list of dams and reservoirs in the United Kingdom.
England Buckinghamshire
*Foxcote Reservoir and Wood, Foxcote Reservoir, north of Buckingham
*Weston Turville Reservoir, between Weston Turville and Wendover
Cambridgeshire
*Grafham Wat ...
References
Drinking water reservoirs in England
Reservoirs in County Durham
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