Work has started on what Yorkshire Water says is its “largest ever environmental investment” in an effort to tackle poor water quality in Sheffield’s River Don and surrounding waterways.

In March 2024, Yorkshire Water was ordered to pay a £150,000 fine to Rotherham & Sheffield Wildlife Trust for numerous “unauthorised sewage spillages” into the River Don dating back to 2020, plus the costs of the Environment Agency’s (EA) investigation.

The company then pledged a further £1.6 billion investment to improve sewage processes and infrastructure to prevent such an event from happening again.

But Councillor Mark Jones, who represents the Burngreave ward on Sheffield Council which the river flows through, claimed the company were still putting residents at risk.

He said: “Yorkshire Water are notorious for many years of underspending and underinvestment.

“They did not deliver the changes that were promised by privatisation.”

When asked about the harm that continued unauthorised sewage discharges causes, Coun Jones said: “Yorkshire Water are endangering the wellbeing of many of my constituents.”

Up until the 1980s, the river was largely ecologically dead, but the closure of industrial factories, particularly coal and steel, allowed its recovery.

However, steep increases in sewage levels in Britain’s waterways in recent years has led to increasing calls for water companies to do more to prevent discharges.

Talking to the Sheffield Wire in 2023, Geoff Guy, manager of waterways charity Riverlution, expressed how it is “disappointing” that natural habitats are in danger as a “system that exists for sewage isn’t putting the right thing in the right place.”

His comments came after a reported 2,231 spillages into the River Don throughout 2023, totalling a staggering 18,312 hours.

A Yorkshire Water spokesperson said: “We completely understand the continued interest in the health of Yorkshire’s rivers, and we are working hard to reduce the frequency and duration of storm overflows across our region.

“We’re currently investing £180m to reduce storm overflow usage across Yorkshire, including overflows discharging into the river Don.

 “Between 2025 and 2030, we’ll be launching our largest ever investment programme, totalling £8.3 billion. This includes a £1.5 billion investment in storm overflows to drive down discharges across the county, improving water quality in the region’s rivers, including the Don. This is part of our continued commitment to improve river health in Yorkshire.”

In January 2025, Yorkshire Water began work on a £1.4 million investment to reduce the need for storm discharges; a scheme which project manager Lumi Ajayi said was “one of a number of large-scale infrastructure projects” around Sheffield and South Yorkshire.

“On completion it will reduce the frequency of storm discharges flowing into the river Don by 48%,” Mr Ajayi added.