Yorkshire Water has begun one of three storm overflow projects which will take place in Horsforth over the next three years, as part of its £1.5 billion investment in reducing the number of discharges across the region.
The initial scheme will see an underground storage tank being built on Fraser Avenue, with further schemes planned to start in spring and summer 2026.
Together, the £3 million investment will create 300m3 of stormwater storage – which will hold three million litres of storm water - to help reduce discharges into the river Aire.
The storage tank on Fraser Avenue will build additional capacity into the network, holding excess wastewater during periods of bad weather to prevent it from being discharged. Flows will be sent for treatment when capacity in the network has returned to normal levels.
Lydia Mitchell, project manager at Yorkshire Water, said:
“Our storm overflows are operating more often than we, and our customers, would like, and projects like these are helping us to bring those figures down. The Fraser Avenue scheme is just one of 37 planned storm overflow projects in Leeds over the next five years, and one of the first of nearly 500 storm spill reduction schemes across Yorkshire over the next five years.”
The work on the first project, which is already underway, is being carried out by Yorkshire Water’s contract partners M Group.
The projects will contribute to reducing the number of discharges from overflows in Leeds by 72%, by 2030.
The overall £1.5 billion investment programme follows a £180 million investment over the previous two years, which helped reduce discharges to watercourses by 12% in 2024, compared to 2023.
Across Yorkshire, the need for storm overflows to operate will be reduced by building new:
Surface water sewers, to separate surface water and wastewater so that wastewater networks aren’t impacted by bad weather
Underground storage tanks, to build additional capacity into the network
Nature-based solutions, to build additional capacity into the network
Sustainable drainage systems, to slow the flow of surface water into the combined network
The storm overflow project is part of Yorkshire Water’s £8.3 billion investment into its services and the environment over the five year AMP8 2025-30 investment period.
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