Thank you for your interest in this story
To continue reading this article, subscribe to the Stray Ferret for as little as £1 a week
Already a subscriber? Log in here.
04
Sept
8 local waterways where sewage was dumped for at least an hour yesterday
Recent wet weather has led to more sewage being dumped into local rivers.
Water companies often increase sewage discharges during heavy rainfall when stormwater and wastewater systems exceed capacity.
The discharges, permitted by the Environment Agency, prevent sewage from backing up into homes, gardens, and streets.
But there are ongoing pollution concerns about the amount of sewage being dumped in waterways.
Ripon City Council is expected to back a motion on Monday (September 7) calling on Yorkshire Water to stop discharging all sewage into local rivers and invite its chief executive Nicola Shaw to be questioned at a meeting.
The website sewagemap.co.uk provides near real-time data on storm overflows from water companies. It reveals when and where untreated, diluted sewage is deposited into the environment.
Sewagemap.co.uk shows where sewage is released.
The Stray Ferret analysed the site today and found numerous discharges had taken place on the rivers Nidd, Ure and Skell. The area around Ripon saw particularly high activity.
Some spillages lasted just minutes, but seven discharges of at least one hour took place. An eighth, on the River Nidd at Darley, began at 1.57am this morning so we have also included that.
The longest discharge, by far, occurred at Ripley Beck where sewage was released for almost 13 hours non-stop.
Here is the list of 11 sewage spills lasting at least 45 minutes within a 24 hour period.
1 Ripley Beck, Ripley
When: 4.18pm on Sep 2 to 5.09am on Sep 3
Duration: 12 hours, 51 minutes
2 River Nidd at Darley
When: 1.57am to 4.40am
Duration: 2 hours, 43 minutes
3 River Skell, Ripon
When: 8.59pm to 10.55pm
Duration: 1 hour, 55 minutes
4 Cundall Beck, Marton-le-Moor
When: 9.12pm to 11.06pm
Duration: 1 hour, 53 minutes
5 River Ure at Sharow Lane, Sharow
When: 9.21pm to 10.44pm
Duration: 1 hour, 23 minutes
6 Scour Gutter, Skelton-on-Ure
When: 9.51pm to 11.07pm
Duration: 1 hour, 16 minutes
Milby lock
7 Milby Cut on River Ouse at Boroughbridge
When: 10.27pm to 11.31pm
Duration: 1 hour, 4 minutes
8 River Skell , near Bondgate Green
When: 8.54pm to 9.54pm
Duration: 1 hour
9 River Nidd at Pateley Bridge
When: 8.43 to 9.33pm
Duration: 49 minutes
10 Bishop Monkton Beck
When: 9.54pm to 10.42pm
Duration: 48 minutes
11 Skittergate Culvert on River Ure at Rotary Way, Ripon
When: 9.02pm to 9.49pm
Duration: 47 minutes
1