Major investment secured to reduce storm overflows

Projects, totalling £2.2 million, to reduce wastewater from local watercourses are set to take place in Myton-on-Swale, near Boroughbridge and Great Barugh, near Malton.

These form part of the utility’s overarching £1.5bn programme to reduce the operation of storm overflows across the region between 2025 and 2030. 

The projects will see parts of the combined sewer system in the county relined to reduce the infiltration of groundwater, Yorkshire Water said.

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A spokesperson for the water company said: “This will reduce the amount of flow in the sewer, making storm overflow discharges less likely.”

Liam Thomas, project manager for Yorkshire Water, added: “Our storm overflows are operating more often than we, and our customers, would like, and we’re going to be continuing our hard work into bringing the number of discharges down over the next five years.

“We already have a number of projects underway in Leeds, Sheffield, Bradford and Barnsley – some of which are almost finished and delivering benefits for the environment – so it’s exciting to begin to make headway in the North of the county too.”

Other project areas include Weeton, Wass and Snape in North Yorkshire.

The join six additional storm overflow projects which will break ground in the next few months, Yorkshire Water has said.

These will take place across Sheriff Hutton, Bishop Monkton, Skeeby, Acklam, Hebden and Malham.

It comes after Yorkshire Water reported 2,176 storm overflows in 2025.

The incidents let sewage spill for 11,884 hours last year, down from 17,927 hours last year, and 21,516 hours in 2023 – a record high.    

Speaking about this, the water firm said: “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.”

According to Yorkshire Water, 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