Yorkshire Water is investing £180 million in reducing discharges from storm overflows in the next two years.
Image: River Wharfe, Ilkley
The plan is targeting overflows that discharge the most often or for the most time as the utility looks to reduce its impact on water quality in the region’s rivers. Over 190 overflows have been earmarked for investment as part of the plan and work on the first batch of improvements is already underway.
Work will be carried out on overflows which discharge into all the major rivers throughout the entire region.
The investment, partly funded by shareholders, is in addition to the £147 million being spent as part of the utility’s current five-year business plan and the work being planned between 2025 and 2030, which will see the company’s largest environmental investment since privatisation.
Nicola Shaw, CEO of Yorkshire Water, said:
“We did not act quickly enough to tackle the issue of storm overflows into rivers. Despite the number and duration of discharges from storm overflows in Yorkshire decreasing in 2022 we understand they happen more than our customers would like, and we are determined to tackle this issue and do our bit for river health.
“Tackling overflows, which were designed into the system as a relief valve, is a priority for us, but it is also a significant task. In Yorkshire, we have over 2,200 overflows and we know replumbing the whole of Yorkshire is not a quick fix as it would be both significantly disruptive and costly to customers. But, further investment from our shareholders is helping us tackle this issue.
“We’ve now launched a project that will see £180m spent on storm overflow improvements in the next two years. This will target the overflows we know are operating more frequently and for longer. Our teams are already on the ground working on the first of these overflows and the investment will help to reduce discharges by at least 20%, but in most cases, we'll be going way beyond that and reducing them significantly."
The £180m investment can broadly be split into four different types of work:
- Increasing storage within Yorkshire Water’s wastewater treatment works
- Preventing surface water entering the sewer system
- Reducing infiltration into sewers
- Small changes to the operation of treatment works
Work in these areas will include:
- building additional storage tanks to retain more wastewater
- holding it back so it doesn’t go through overflows
- redirecting rainwater away from sewers and into water butts or SUDs
- removing water sources that shouldn’t be plumbed in the network and preventing water naturally seeping in
- changing how the company operate the wider sewer network and pumping stations that could reduce the need for overflows to kick in to action.
Nicola Shaw added:
“Storm overflows are a priority for us and that’s why we’ve funded these improvements. We’re going beyond the government’s storm overflow reduction plan and we’re already planning our largest ever environmental investment programme between 2025 and 2030, this is only the beginning as we embark on the biggest investment programme since privatisation.”
"We should have acted more quickly to change the situation"
Writing separately in an open letter to Yorkshire Water customers, the water company chief explained:
“There has been a huge amount of criticism of, and anger at, the water industry over recent months. I get why people are angry – seeing sewage in our rivers and seas isn’t right. We should have a system that befits the 21st Century. So, on behalf of Yorkshire Water, I am sorry. We should have acted more quickly to change the situation. That’s why I have decided to refuse any bonus this year as I want us to make progress……
“The river Wharfe at Ilkley is a key spot for river bathing. The Ilkley Clean River Group started their campaign in 2018 and they achieved bathing water designation on the Wharfe – the first inland location in the UK. We were too slow here as well – but in March this year we started tunnelling for an underground sewer to double the capacity of our sewage system in the town. This is a big project and will alone cost £15m, and we’ll have this in place by the end of the year. We’ve also pushed to bring forward a second stage of investment worth over £50m to improve the quality of the water along the Wharfe to bring further benefits to those swimming at Ilkley. “
With the UK government demanding a 50% reduction in storm overflow spills by 2029, the era of reactive management is over. Speaking in the House of Commons on 21 July 2025, then environment secretary Steve Reed said, “This Government will cut water companies’ sewage pollution in half by the end of the decade.”
ERG, the leading supplier of odour control systems and industrial gas cleaning & thermal systems, has been awarded the coveted King’s Award for Enterprise.
Welsh Water’s new artificial intelligence-driven tool, ORAI, has been shortlisted for three categories at the prestigious British Data Awards 2026 – underscoring the company’s commitment to using cutting-edge technology to deliver better outcome for customers.
Barhale has completed work on two separate Rapid Action Taskforce Spills projects it is carrying out for Severn Trent.
Hear how Scottish Water has completed its £235 million Ayrshire Glasgow Resilience Project - customers across Greater Glasgow, Ayrshire and East Renfrewshire will now benefit from a more secure and resilient water supply.
Hear how United Utilities is accelerating its investment to reduce spills from storm overflows across the Northwest.
Find out more about the remarkable career opportunities on offer at WSP - scroll down to watch the inspirational video.