Yorkshire Water has admitted a £1.5m scheme to reduce storm overflow discharges into a North Yorkshire river has not performed as expected. When the investment was announced in 2024 for the River Ure in Ripon, the water company said the scheme would reduce the issue by about 75%. But it said the number of recorded discharges from its Clock Tower combined sewer overflow (CSO), near the Ripon by-pass bridge, fell from 75 in 2021 to 43 in 2025, a reduction of about 43%.
The company has described the result as "disappointing", but stressed that comparing individual years was complicated by rainfall levels. "[2025] was a particularly dry year, which will have further contributed to a decrease in discharges," a Yorkshire Water spokesperson said. "As such, whilst there has been a reduction, the scheme did not perform as expected, which is disappointing." Combined sewer overflows are designed as pressure-relief points on sewer networks which carry both wastewater and rainwater.
During heavy rainfall, they can discharge into watercourses to prevent overloaded sewers backing up into homes, businesses and streets. Such discharges can be permitted by the Environment Agency under specified circumstances. Recent testing by campaign group Stop Ure Pollution and the Yorkshire Dales Rivers Trust further upstream has raised concerns about bacteria and other pollution in the river, the Local Democracy Service reports.
The Skipton and Ripon branch of the North Yorkshire Green Party has now submitted an Environmental Information Regulations request, seeking information held by Yorkshire Water about the performance of the Clock Tower scheme and changes in discharges following work carried out in 2025. Green Party councillor Andy Brown said the levels of sewage going in the rivers "is deeply disgusting" and called the latest testing further upstream "far from reassuring". He said campaigners and organisations, including Ripon City Council, would continue pressing for improvements.
"Yorkshire Water must play its part," he said. "It must act, and it must deliver the facts – straight-up and undiluted." Yorkshire Water said it was investigating further projects in Ripon as part of a £1.5bn investment programme aimed at reducing storm overflow use. "We know there is much more to do to protect local watercourses," the spokesperson said.
Listen to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North. 'It's awful': Dismay over three-day sewage spill Five fall ill with E. coli at beauty spot Yorkshire Water sewage spills down to 1,000 a week
Extract — continue reading at the source.
