Yorkshire Water’s new sewer to halve wastewater discharges

Yorkshire Water has completed a new 835m sewer underneath Ilkley to reduce the frequency and duration of discharges to the river Wharfe.

The £15m interceptor sewer and detention tank will hold wastewater during heavy or prolonged rainfall events, allowing it to be stored and then pumped to Ilkley wastewater treatment works to go through the full treatment process once the rainfall event has passed.

Yorkshire Water said it expected the new sewer to reduce the frequency of discharges from Rivadale storm overflow by 40% and reduce the volume of wastewater discharged during those events by 50%, improving water quality in the river Wharfe, which is home to the UK’s first inland bathing water in Ilkley. 

The 2m diameter sewer took 16 months to complete, and can store up to 3.4 Ml of wastewater. It runs underneath the A65 from Wharfe to Ilkley wastewater treatment works. 

Chief executive of Yorkshire Water, Nicola Shaw, said: “The completion of this project is not the end of our work in Ilkley. Later this year, we will start further work to reduce discharges into the river and are currently assessing a range of possible options, using nature-based solutions where possible.”