215 projects to upgrade the water and wastewater infrastructure in Yorkshire have been completed this year – improving the network’s impact on the environment, and enhancing service delivery for customers.
Significant investments have been made in reducing discharges from storm overflows, replacing mains pipes that were prone to bursts or leaks, upgrading wastewater treatment facilities to protect watercourses, and building resilience into both the water and wastewater networks.
Richard Stuart, director of asset delivery, said:
2025 has been a really important year for us – working hard in the first three months to close out the previous five-year delivery period, and then navigating planning and beginning to deliver our largest ever five-year investment programme of £8.3bn.
We are going through a step-change in the volume of infrastructure improvements we are making, and we’re hopeful that customers across the region are starting to feel the benefits of the work we have been doing.
In the past six months alone, Yorkshire Water has replaced 120km of mains across the region – estimated to be saving 1.24 million litres every day in leakage – and created 30,500m3 of extra storage in the wastewater network, creating capacity to reduce the likelihood of storm overflow discharges. This follows on from 102 discharge reduction projects being completed in early 2025 as part of a previous £180m commitment to upgrading overflows.
Over the course of the year, 277 projects have been started, including:
More than 60 mains replacement projects across the entire region as part of a £406m investment
Drilling new boreholes at East Ness and Brayton Barff to unlock new underground water sources
Creation of wetlands at South Elmsall and Dearne Reach to reduce storm overflow discharges and help with the treatment of wastewater
Six overflow improvement projects as part of a £1.5bn investment to reducing discharges
Richard added:
Of course, we’re looking ahead to 2026 already, and we’re ready to hit the ground running with multiple projects – from mains replacements to storm overflow projects – starting in the first week of January.
