Investment underway to improve water quality at Bempton, East Yorkshire

Yorkshire Water is investing £3m to create a new underground storage shaft at the pumping station in Bempton, East Yorkshire to reduce overflows into the North Sea.  

Contract partners Peter Duffy Ltd (PDL) are installing the new 10.5m diameter, 7.75m deep shaft, adjacent to Newsham Hill Lane, which will help to increase resilience in the wastewater network in the area. 

During periods of heavy and prolonged rainfall, flows will stay in the new shaft until the water level returns to normal and storm water will go into the pumping station for treatment.   

The new tank will significantly reduce the number of discharges from the nearby Bempton Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) discharging into Danes Dyke and help improve water quality of the local watercourse.  Work is scheduled to complete by May 2025. 

Lumi Ajayi, project manager, said: “This project will significantly reduce the volume and frequency of storm overflows going into local watercourses.  It is part of Yorkshire Water’s £180m of investment by the end of April 2025 to reduce discharges from storm overflows across the region. 

“It is one of a number of schemes across the East and North Yorkshire coastline to improve water quality, including £2.8m investment at Wheatcroft, Scarborough, £1.4m investment at Mappleton, and £1.3m investment to reduce discharges into the river Esk at Whitby.”