East Yorkshire water works upgrade to reduce storm sewage spills

Yorkshire Water is investing £380,000 at an East Yorkshire waste water treatment works to reduce storm overflow discharges.

The firm said it aimed to reduce discharges into waterways from its Old Ellerby plant by 70%.

Work includes expanding the plant's storage capacity to hold rain water.

Environment Agency figures show that in 2023 the sewer storm overflow at Old Ellerby spilled 59 times for a total of 521 hours.

The plant, near Hull, discharges storm overflow water into a tributary of the Kelwell Drain.

Omair Khan, project manager at Yorkshire Water, said that "many of the discharges are short in their duration".

"As a result, we believe increasing storage available on site will significantly reduce the frequency of the discharges during rainfall events, helping to improve water quality in Kelwell Drain," he said.

Work is set to begin later this month and is expected to be completed in June.

Also in East Yorkshire, work has also started in Ellerton with the laying of a new surface water sewer the length of the village to divert water flows away from the public sewer.

In addition, a 1,150ft (350m) length of the existing sewer will be relined.

It is part of a £1.3m upgrade to reduce discharges into the River Derwent from storm overflows during periods of heavy or prolonged rainfall, Yorkshire Water said.

There will be some road closures and temporary traffic lights will be in place on Main Street until 13 September.

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