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20
Apr
Sewer projects could bring an end to raw sewage in village streets
Villages in the district are set to see fewer storm overflow discharges, thanks to new projects announced by Yorkshire Water.
A project in Weeton will see parts of the combined sewer network relined to reduce amount of groundwater seeping into the system. This will in turn reduce the amount of flow in the sewer, making storm overflow discharges less likely.
Similar projects will be carried out in Snape, Myton-on-Swale, Wass and Great Barugh.
The projects, totalling a £2.2m investment, form part of Yorkshire Water’s £1.5 billion programme to reduce the operation of storm overflows across the region between 2025 and 2030.
Heavy rain can cause flooding in Bishop Monkton, bringing raw sewage into the streets. Photo: Helen Bagnall.
The programme follows a £180m investment over the previous two years, which saw more than 100 storm overflows upgraded throughout the region.
Over the next few months, six additional storm overflow projects will have broken ground in North Yorkshire, including one in Bishop Monkton, where residents have long complained that raw sewage escapes into the streets at times of heavy rainfall.
The other projects will be carried out at Acklam, Hebden, Malham, Sheriff Hutton and Skeeby.
Liam Thomas, project manager at Yorkshire Water, said:
Our storm overflows are operating more often than we, and our customers, would like, and we’re going to be continuing our hard work into bringing the number of discharges down over the next five years.
We already have a number of projects underway in Leeds, Sheffield, Bradford and Barnsley – some of which are almost finished and delivering benefits for the environment – so it’s exciting to begin to make headway in the north of the county too.
Contractor United Infrastructure is completing the projects, which will take place in phases. Local residents will be informed of any localised disruption.
Over 450 storm overflow discharge reduction projects will be delivered by 2030, all of which are currently in planning and design or have already started on site.
Mr Thomas added:
This is a significant and challenging programme of works, but one that’s vitally important for health of watercourses across the region, and one that we are absolutely committed to.
Storm overflows are designed to act as a relief valve for the combined sewer network, which carries both wastewater and surface water, during periods of heavy or prolonged rainfall. They discharge when the system is at capacity to prevent flows backing up and flooding homes and gardens.
Across the region, Yorkshire Water is working to reduce the number of storm overflows by building underground storage tanks and new surface water sewers, and by introducing sustainable drainage systems and nature-based solutions to build capacity into the network.
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