Water firm planning to keep a lid on sewage as £770,000 scheme starts

Engineering specialists working on behalf of Yorkshire Water are installing an underground storage tank in Barrow Lane, which will be capable of holding 535,000 litres of waste water.

The tank will hold excess sewage during heavy flows until it is safe to release back into the local sewer network, reducing the prospect of sewage coming up through manhole covers or being backed up in domestic properties.

Work will also start next Monday to increase the size of the Barrow Lane sewer, which will see a small section of the road closed to non-residents for about 11 weeks.

Charlie Haysom, director of asset delivery at Yorkshire Water, said: “The work we are doing will increase the storage capacity in the network and mean local properties are better protected than ever before.

“We believe, like our customers, that sewer flooding is unacceptable. And whilst we can’t tackle the problem by ourselves, this latest investment underlines our continuing commitment to playing our part in helping to reduce the risk of sewer flooding to our customers and operating as a responsible company dedicated to providing customers with the best possible service.

“Obviously, with any work of this magnitude, there’s always likely to be some traffic disruption, but we want to reassure all concerned that we’re doing everything we can to keep this to a minimum and complete the job as quickly as possible.”

The work is part of a wider £120m investment by the company to upgrade its sewer network and treatment facilities across the region.

It said this will benefit hundreds of customers who might otherwise have been at potential risk from sewer flooding, and serve to reduce the likelihood of sewer flooding in the region during storm conditions.

Work on the new storage tank, being carried out by Mott MacDonald Bentley, is expected to be completed by July next year.