Water firm invests £6m to cut storm discharges

The project would reduce the number of storm water discharges into sites including Mill Dike near Doncaster, Yorkshire Water said

Yorkshire Water is to invest £6.2m in reducing storm discharges to improve river quality in the Doncaster area.

The company will target storm overflows at Woodlands, Harlington Mill Lane, Norton and Bentley Moor, with work getting under way in the D5 and D6 postcode areas.

The scheme is part of a £180m investment across Yorkshire to reduce storm overflow discharges by the end of April.

Project manager Lumi Ajayi said the work would "significantly reduce the volume and frequency of storm overflows and improve water quality in watercourses in the area".

'Safe wastewater storage'

Yorkshire Water said the project would reduce the number of storm water discharges into Mill Dike, Swan Sike Dike and tributaries of the Old River Dearne.

It will spend £3.6m on a new 425 cubic metre underground storage tank at Woodlands Doncaster Road - the extra capacity of which would reduce storm discharges into Mill Dike by 80%.

Pumps will be upgraded at Harlington Mill Lane sewage station to cut storm discharges into the Old River Dearne, at a cost of £1.6m.

Station Road sewage station in Norton will get new valves, manhole chambers and line pipework, costing £550,000.

And Bentley Moor sewage pumping station will see a £530,000 investment to reduce groundwater and storm discharges into Well Strike Dike by 50%.

Ms Ajayi said the projects would help "reduce the amount of rainfall entering the combined sewer network and safely store more wastewater during extreme rainfall".

Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North or tell us a story you think we should be covering here.