Storm overflow project begins in Staxton to improve river Hertford

Yorkshire Water has begun a £700,000 project to reduce the frequency and volume of discharges from a combined storm overflow (CSO) in Staxton into the river Hertford. 

The work forms part of the utility's £1.5bn drive to bring down the number of discharges across the county.  

Contract partners at Sapphire Utilities Solutions will be constructing a storage tank at Staxton Pumping Station CSO, capable of holding up to 73,000 litres of additional flows in the combined wastewater and rainwater network. This means that the CSO, which operates as a relief valve for the combined system when it is over capacity due to heavy rainfall, will be much less likely to operate.  

Wastewater stored in the tank will be sent for treatment as usual when the rainfall has passed and the network has capacity. 

The work is expected to take four months. 

Ian McCall, project manager at Yorkshire Water, said: "Our storm overflows are operating more than we, and our customers would like, so we're making improvements across 450 overflows by 2030. We’ve already started work on eight other storm overflow projects across North Yorkshire, and we have pulled forward the work at Staxton so we can start delivering benefits for the river Hertford as soon as possible." 

The wider £1.5bn CSO programme follows a £180m investment over the previous two years, which saw more than 100 overflows upgraded throughout the region. Discharges from storm overflows in Yorkshire decreased by 24.5% in 2025, when compared with the previous 12 months. 

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. 

Nearby, in Scarborough, Yorkshire Water is investigating and planning a multi-million-pound transformation of the wastewater network, in a bid to improve the water quality at the coast. This will include the reduction of CSO discharges into the sea in a bid to improve water quality.