£90m storm overflow programme to start in Bradford

Yorkshire Water is set to continue progress on its £1.5bn storm overflow investment programme, with its first scheme in Bradford starting on Monday 23 March. 

The £30m project, on Preston Street, will see the installation of a new underground storage tank capable of holding 13,500m3 of storm water – enough to fill around 80,000 bathtubs – to help reduce storm overflow discharges into Bradford Beck. 

Storage tanks build additional capacity into the network, holding excess wastewater during periods of bad weather to prevent it from being discharged. Flows will be sent for treatment when capacity in the network has returned to normal levels. 

By 2030, £90m total will have been spent in Bradford alone, across ten schemes, to reduce discharges. 

Ben Mitchell, project manager at Yorkshire Water, said: “Our storm overflows are operating more than we, and our customers, would like, and we’re committed and focused on reducing the number of discharges taking place. After a period of thorough planning to make sure we’re delivering the right solution on Preston Street, we’re happy to be getting underway with the project, which will see the number of discharges brought down to under 10 each year.” 

Contract partners Ward and Burke are expected to take around two years to complete the project. The tank will be built on private land, just off Preston Street.  

Ben added: “We’re working closely with our partners to ensure that we’re undertaking the work with as little disruption as possible to the community, but as always, we thank everyone for their patience while we deliver this important work.” 

The £1.5bn wider programme, which will see improvements at over 450 overflows, follows a £180m investment over the previous two years that helped reduce discharges to watercourses by 12% in 2024, compared to 2023. 

Whilst Preston St marks the first scheme in Bradford, there are already six projects taking place in Leeds, and five across South Yorkshire. 

Storm overflows are designed to act as a relief valve for the combined sewer network, which carries both wastewater and surface water, during periods of heavy or prolonged rainfall. They discharge when the system is at capacity to prevent flows backing up and flooding homes and gardens. 

Across Yorkshire, the need for storm overflows to operate will be reduced by building new: 

• Surface water sewers, to separate surface water and wastewater so that wastewater networks aren’t impacted by bad weather 
• Underground storage tanks, to build additional capacity into the network 
• Nature-based solutions, to build additional capacity into the network 
• Sustainable drainage systems, to slow the flow of surface water into the combined network 

The storm overflow project is part of Yorkshire Water’s £8.3bn investment into its services and the environment over the next five years. 

Elsewhere in Bradford, Yorkshire Water is: replacing 16.1km of mains by April this year to reduce leaks, bursts, and supply interruptions; implementing a new main between Thornton Moor and Haworth to boost drought resilience; and rebuilding a clean water pumping station in Great Horton to secure the future of the local network.