Water company announces investment aimed at reducing discharges

Yorkshire Water has announced it will invest £3.4m to improve and upgrade storm water overflows in two parts of East Yorkshire.

The projects at Brough and North Ferriby are part of a £180m investment by the company to reduce discharges and improve water quality in the region.

A company spokesman said it intended to limit discharges into the Humber River.

The company is one of three, along with Thames Water and Northumbrian Water, to be sanctioned by the industry regulator over historic sewage leaks.

Commenting on the dual scheme, Project Manager Lumi Ajayi said: “These important storm overflow improvements will prevent infiltration from the Humber and reduce storm discharges and overflows into the estuary during periods of prolonged or heavy rainfall.”

In August, it was announced that an investigation by Ofwat had found that Yorkshire Water had been discharging untreated sewage into the region’s rivers for an average of seven hours a day in 2023, with almost half of storm overflows found to be in breach of regulations.

It found there had been a lack of investment in and maintenance of the networks, resulting in repeated releases of sewage into the country’s waterways.

Yorkshire Water said it takes its “responsibility for protecting the environment very seriously”.

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