Rivington was dramatically changed by the construction of the Rivington Reservoir Chain, part of the 10,000 acre Rivington watershed, built to provide Liverpool with a safe, clean water supply. Nine properties in the valley were demolished before construction work began. The Rivington Pike Scheme, still in use today, was undertaken by Thomas Hawksley between 1850 and 1857, requiring Liverpool Corporation to purchase large areas of occupied land within the Rivington valley. The scheme was to construct five reservoirs and a water treatment works at the south end of Lower Rivington with a pipeline to storage reservoirs at Prescot. Water from two higher level reservoirs, Rake Brook and Lower Roddlesworth, was carried south in the Goit, a man-made channel connecting them to the lower reservoirs. In 1900 Liverpool Corporation attempted to acquire the entire area of Rivington to safeguard its water supply, and proposed demolishing the entire village.