Yorkshire Water completing major upgrade at North Yorkshire wastewater treatment site

Yorkshire Water is underway with a £3.8m project at Sinderby wastewater treatment site to reduce discharges from the storm overflow, improving the water quality in the river Swale. 

The project will triple the site's treatment capacity - from 3.5 litres per second to 10.5 litres per second - by replacing or upgrading treatment units on site.  

With more wastewater able to be treated, the frequency and duration of storm overflow discharges into the receiving watercourse will be reduced. Discharges only occur when the combined sewer network is at full capacity to protect homes and businesses from flooding. 

The project forms part of Yorkshire Water’s largest ever environmental investment between 2025 and 2030, totalling £8.3bn.  

Farina Iltaf, project manager at Yorkshire Water, said; “Our project partners, Mott MacDonald Bentley (MMB), are already underway with our Sinderby project, and making brilliant progress – we're on track to finish in spring 2026 – and the watercourse will start to see the benefits immediately.” 

The project will also see 1.5km of pipework laid in fields adjoining the wastewater treatment works to move the storm overflow outfall further downstream. When complete, 2.5km of the watercourse will benefit. 

Farina added: “Improving the water environment is incredibly important to us and to our customers, which is why this project is just one of a number that we have planned in Yorkshire.” 

Over the next five years, Yorkshire Water will be investing £1.5bn in reducing the frequency and duration of discharges from storm overflows across the region - £378m of which will be invested in North Yorkshire.