Water firm in £20m project to reduce river pollution

POLLUTION levels in one of the region’s dirtiest rivers should plummet over the next few months according to engineers behind a modernisation scheme at a water treatment works.

Yorkshire Water yesterday announced that it planned to spend £20m overhauling the Old Whittington works, on the River Rother, with improvements to every stage of the cleaning process.

The company said the Rother, which flows from its source at Pilsley, near Chesterfield to Rotherham, where it joins the River Don, had once been declared Yorkshire’s most heavily polluted watercourse.

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In recent years, some work has taken place to improve the situation, but there have been persistent problems with smells at the treatment works, which deals with 37 million litres a day.

Yorkshire Water spokesman Dani Munton said: “As one of the UK’s largest water companies, we recognise that our operations can have a huge impact on the local environment we operate in.

“Our investment at Old Whittington will not only improve the operational effectiveness and efficiency of the plant, but it will have a huge impact on the quality of the treated water which is discharged.

“This will help to boost local biodiversity and enhance the experience of all those who use the river for recreational activities.”

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The works, which are north of Chesterfield and were built in 1930, serve a population of 96,000 people.

The revamp will see automated sewage treatment machinery installed, which will be operated and run from Yorkshire Water’s headquarters in Bradford.