Yorkshire Water starts work on storm overflows

Yorkshire Water has begun work to install two new storm overflows in Leeds, creating extra storage capacity in the sewer network to reduce the amount discharged into watercourses.

The projects in Armey and near Temple Newsam are part of the company's £1.5bn investment in reducing the number of discharges across the county.

In April, the Environment Agency (EA) ordered Yorkshire Water to pay £2.35m to fund environmental improvements following seven unauthorised sewage incidents between 2019 and 2023.

Other storm overflow improvement schemes are under way in Sheffield, Barnsley and Bradford.

Storm overflows act as a "relief valve" for the sewer network during times of heavy rain, the company said.

They discharge when the system is full to stop the network backing up and flooding homes and gardens.

Yorkshire Water said the latest projects in Leeds would create capacity for 547,000 litres of wastewater and rainwater.

The project near Temple Newsam will use additional pipework to reduce discharges into Wyke Beck, while the Armley project will use an underground storage tank to reduce discharges into the River Aire.

The schemes will cost £5.7m, according to Yorkshire Water.

The Temple Newsam project should be finished by November and the Armley work by spring 2027.

The schemes would contribute to reducing overflows by 72% by 2030, Yorkshire Water said.

Earlier this year the EA secured seven enforcement undertakings from Yorkshire Water, after a series of pollution incidents across the region between 2019 and 2023.

This required the firm to take steps to prevent repetition of the offending and to put right any damage.

The company was ordered to pay £2.35m to environmental charities to bolster improvements to nature reserves, boost wetland habitat creation and restore flood plains.

Announcing the new projects, Lydia Mitchell, project manager at Yorkshire Water, said there were now 12 projects taking place across Leeds.

She said that although storm overflows were "operating more than we or our customers want" the firm was "making real progress" to "bring the numbers down across Yorkshire".

The said the company will have upgraded more than 450 overflows by 2030.

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