Environmental Visitor Centre

Esholt VC 10 Learning about the environment, waste water and what happens when the loo is flushed has become much more fun thanks to our new Environmental Visitor Centre, which was officially opened by Minister for Environment Hilary Benn on 18th September 2009.

In a first for the region, the centre will provide school children and community groups the chance to take an educational journey around the Esholt site to find out how the company treats the equivalent of 112 Olympic swimming pools of waste water every day and returns it safely back to the environment.

The centre boasts hands-on science experiments for children enabling them to learn about how floods occur, what bugs are used to recycle waste water and how the treatment process works.

Esholt VC 6 To have a facility like this where school children and community groups can come to learn about the work that we do in the environment is something we have wanted to do for some time. We have spent millions of pounds upgrading the treatment works at the site and the new visitor centre will allow us to share how it all works with thousands of school children in an interactive and fun way.

Richard Flint, chief operating officer at Yorkshire Water

To book a visit to our Environmental Visitor Centre or any other of our education centres across Yorkshire call our Communications Team on 01274 692515.

We've used the latest environmentally friendly materials

Where possible the centre is self-sustainable - a rainwater harvesting system provides water for the washrooms, solar panels heat the building alongside power generated by the incinerator on site and even some of the furniture is made out of recycled pipes from Esholt's pipe graveyard!

Esholt VC 9 As part of the internal design, sixth form pupils from Immanuel College in Bradford undertook a project to design a statement piece of furniture made from old bits of pipe and other redundant material.

The centre, which is our fourth in the region, will provide a great free educational resource for school children across Yorkshire, featuring interactive displays linked to the national curriculum.

Find out more about our other education centres and what your children will learn

Our education centres>

Esholt VC MP I'd like to congratulate Yorkshire Water on opening this Centre. The school children and community groups who visit will have the chance to learn about how we manage water and why it is important to look after it. It's a great idea and I wish it every success."