Yorkshire Post: ‘Victory for Ilkley campaigners as Yorkshire Water agree to stop dumping sewage in the River Wharfe

A group of Ilkley residents concerned about local water pollution have won a battle to get the River Wharfe cleaned up.

Around 70 members of the Ilkley Clean Rivers Group met with representatives of the Environment Agency and Yorkshire Water this week to call for action to be taken to prevent raw sewage being dumped in the Wharfe during periods of heavy rainfall. The discharges are legal to prevent nearby homes from flooding with contaminated water – but are having an adverse impact on the water quality and ecosystem of the river. Although the Environment Agency had imposed a 10-year deadline for upgrading an upstream pumping station at Addingham which is often overwhelmed during storms, Yorkshire Water, who manage the site, have agreed to take immediate remedial action.  The campaigners have argued that the poor water quality could also impact upon fish and other species living in the Wharfe. Ilkley resident and campaigner Professor Rebecca Malby believes the group have uncovered a ‘national scandal’ and exposed the poor maintenance of outdated sewage systems.

“We first started noticing the discharges from the storm overflow pipe about a year ago, and fishermen were also telling us that fish stocks were depleted. The overflows happen after anything more than a little bit of rain. “The water companies basically have a licence just to dump sewage. If the water is higher than a certain level, they say sewage could back up and flow into people’s houses. We say they need to set the limit higher and upgrade the plant. Key points:

  • “It is happening a few times every week. We accept it will happen in exceptional weather conditions, but not day-to-day.
  • “The legislation (on sewage discharge) is imposed by the EU but it is very loosely interpreted here. If anything, after Brexit it could be tightened up.
  • “There are often over 1,000 people swimming and paddling in the river on nice summer days – it’s fine in dry conditions but the E.coli levels can be 40-50 times the safe limit after rainfall. Children are playing in that water.
  • “Fish numbers are declining and the water is not fit to support the ecosystem. It’s a first world country and you can see this brown sludge heading up the river
  • “Nobody has tried to get a river designated before. We have a fantastic team of scientists who are based locally, they have monitored and tested the water and we know it is not farm run-off – it is coming from the sewage works.
  • “It’s happening everywhere, it’s not just in Ilkley. The system isn’t fit for purpose. We have manholes spewing sewage, but the water companies have walked a slow walk with improvements.” Click here to read more

Guardian article on the pollution of the River Wharfe by sewage from Yorkshire Water treatment plant

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