£3.6m storm overflow investment at Carver Fields, Crosspool to protect river Rivelin

Yorkshire Water’s £1.5bn investment to reduce discharges into watercourses across the region continues with a storm overflow project in Crosspool, Sheffield to protect the river Rivelin.

The £3.6m scheme to build a new 2,500m³ storm tank beneath Carver Fields, off Hagg Lane, will add 2,500,000 litres of extra storage capacity to the network.

Once completed, the storage tank will hold excess wastewater and surface water following a period of prolonged or heavy rainfall, to prevent it being discharged into the river from Rivelin Valley combined sewer overflow (CSO). Flows will then be sent for full treatment when capacity in the network has returned to normal levels. 

Joe Johnson, senior project manager at Yorkshire Water, said: “This is one of 21 major storm overflow projects for Sheffield and our contract partners, Ward & Burke, will be delivering the scheme, starting on site on Monday 6 July. 

“We know that reducing the number of storm discharges going into local watercourses is an important matter to our customers and, when its finished, this scheme should reduce discharges into the river from Rivelin Valley CSO to fewer than 10 per year.”

Following extensive investigation in the local area, this site was identified for investment, partly because of its local geology and proximity to existing underground sewers, as well as being identified as the least impactful to the wider community. 

Yorkshire Water has been working closely with the owners of Carver Fields church on plans to keep disruption to a minimum.  A customer drop-in event is taking place on Wednesday 3 June (3pm – 5.45pm) at the Crosspool & District Youth Sports Trust (CDYST) sports hall, where local residents and businesses can meet the project team and find out more about the upcoming scheme.

Joe continues: “This project is expected to take 18 months to complete, and we will be working closely with residents and the local community to ensure we keep disruption to a minimum and that the field will be fully restored, as well as other betterment opportunities.”

There are 21 storm overflow schemes designated for completion in the next five years in Sheffield and work has already begun at Vickers Road, and Butterthwaite Road to reduce discharges into local waterways.

Yorkshire Water is delivering its largest ever environmental investment programme, with £8.3bn set to be invested across the region over the next five years to upgrade infrastructure and improve services for our customers.

This includes £1.5bn towards reducing the need for storm overflow discharges by building brand new:

• surface water sewers
• underground storage tanks
• nature-based solutions
• sustainable drainage systems

These solutions will help to support our sewer network for cleaner and healthier rivers and coastal waters. This follows a £180m investment over the previous two years, which helped reduce discharges to watercourses by 12% in 2024, compared to 2023.