£7.3m project underway at Pocklington wastewater treatment site

Yorkshire Water is delivering a £7.3m project at its Pocklington wastewater treatment site in East Riding of Yorkshire, designed to improve water quality in Pocklington Beck. 

The work will reduce the Phosphorus present in the treated wastewater returned to the environment. Once completed, it will improve the water quality of more than 2km of the river downstream of the treatment works.  

Contract partner BarhaleEnpure is carrying out upgrades and refurbishments across the site, including the replacement and upsizing of the existing stormwater storage tank. This will also reduce discharges to Pocklington Beck during periods of prolonged or heavy rainfall. 

Phosphorus is a normal part of domestic sewage, entering the sewer system via domestic showers and washing machines due to products such as shampoo and liquid detergent containing Phosphorus. It can also wash off from agricultural fields after the use of fertilisers and be dissolved from soil which can be difficult to control. 

While a small amount of Phosphorus is harmless and is an essential part of many ecosystems, it can become damaging to human and animal life when unmanaged. 

Mark Hewison, project manager at Yorkshire Water, said: “The scheme at Pocklington is one of a number of Phosphorus reduction schemes that we have planned across Yorkshire and follows the completion of work to build a nature-first wastewater treatment process at the nearby Bishop Wilton wastewater treatment works. Improving the health of our rivers is incredibly important to us and our customers, which is why we have committed to investing £500m in Phosphorus removal by 2025.” 

Yorkshire Water also recently completed a £1.6m nature-first Phosphorous reduction scheme at nearby Bishop Wilton as part of the wider Phosphorus programme.  

Work on the Pocklington project will complete in spring 2025.