Yorkshire Water is embarking on a £9 million project to improve the quality of its water supplies by restoring some of the region’s most iconic moorland.

A five-year project will see experts restore degraded moorland sites on the moors above Keighley to retain more water and prevent peat running into rivers and reservoirs.

The poor condition of the land, caused by two centuries of industrial pollution, means peat is breaking up and finding its way into reservoirs.

The water discolouration needs to be removed before purified water can be pumped into people’s homes.

A spokesman for Yorkshire Water said it had become a “major problem” over the past two decades.

He said the restoration will save money by preventing the need for expensive treatment to remove peat once it has contaminated reservoirs.

Restoration will improve water quality at Oldfield water treatment works in Keighley and at Chellow Heights, Bradford.

Andrew Walker, Yorkshire Water’s catchment development leader, said: “We own thousands of hectares of land, much of which we use to collect water for our reservoirs.

“Unfortunately, due to peatland degradation, colour levels at all of our peatland reservoirs have significantly increased to such an extent over the last 20 years that it was starting to become a major problem in terms of treating the water at some of our works.

“Rather than investing in expensive technology, we’ve decided to take a sustainable approach to the problem with an ambitious programme of work which we hope will herald major benefits.

“We recognise that we have the opportunity to make a huge difference to some of Yorkshire’s most iconic landscapes by restoring them back to health, boosting local biodiversity and benefiting the thousands of visitors and user groups who currently derive enjoyment or income from them.”

He said the work would have wider environmental benefits.

Protecting the moorland could lead to it becoming one of the largest natural carbon reservoirs in the UK over the next 50 years.

Mr Walker added: “Keeping the moors wetter for longer should reduce colour loss and keep the peat where it belongs on the moors and not in local rivers and reservoirs.”

Moorland restoration specialists, Penny Anderson Associates and Dinsdale Moorland Services started work this month on the moors above Keighley and the Pennine Way.

For more information and a video about the project, visit yorkshirewater.com.