Yorkshire Water invests almost £16m to upgrade east Yorkshire treatment sites

Yorkshire Water contract partners, Ward & Burke, began work on £3.4m upgrade at Leven wastewater treatment site recently. 

It is the final of five wastewater treatment plants across east Yorkshire to benefit from £15.9m improvements to reduce the amount of phosphorus released back into the environment after the treatment of wastewater.

The improved sites included in the phosphorus removal programme are: 

• £2.9m investment at Watton wastewater treatment site
• £3.6m investment at Cherry Burton wastewater treatment site
• £2.9m investment at Leconfield wastewater treatment site
• £3.1m investment at Easington wastewater treatment site
• £3.4m investment in Leven wastewater treatment site

The focus of the £15.9m investment programme is to reduce the amount of phosphorus going back into local waterways.  Phosphorus is a by-product of detergents such as shampoo or washing up liquid which gets into the wastewater system through showers, washing machines and dishwashers.

It can also be a runoff from agricultural fields and farmlands through crop fertilisers or dissolved from soil.  While a small amount of phosphorus is harmless and essential for many ecosystems, too much of it can be harmful to both human and animal life.

The improvement works across the five east Yorkshire sites includes the implementation of mechanical, electrical, instrumentation, control and automation (MEICA) systems, the installation of ferric dosing kiosks, ferric storage tank kiosks, chemicals off-loading area and a number of other improvements across the sites.

Andy Clarke, lead project manager, Yorkshire Water said: “The improvements made to five wastewater treatment sites across east Yorkshire will help us to drive down phosphorus levels and improve water quality across the region.  This is part of £67m investment to continue our work to reduce phosphorus entering watercourses at 45 wastewater treatment works, including 13 that will be completed in the first year of our current five-year business plan.

“Leven is the last of the five east Yorkshire-based wastewater treatment sites to receive investment as part of our phosphorus removal programme.  The individual projects will take 10 months to complete, and we have been working with our contract partners, Ward & Burke, to keep disruption to a minimum for local residents and communities.”

Yorkshire Water has embarked on its largest ever environmental investment of £8.3bn over the next five years across the region.  Some examples of other investments planned include: 

• Replacement of more than 200km of water mains replacement over the next five years, including 54km in Hull and East Riding of Yorkshire in the next two years
• More than 150,000 smart meter exchanges across the region 
• Over £140m investment to reduce storm overflows across the East Riding, including £60m at Bridlington wastewater treatment works over the next five years 
• More than £2bn investment in the water industry national environment programme (WINEP) over the next five years 
• £23m on improved monitoring of the wastewater network  
• New investments at Scarborough, Robin Hood’s Bay and Bridlington to improve bathing water quality