Yorkshire Water has decreased its sewage spills in 2024 as part of its efforts to improve infrastructure and prevent flooding.

The data for 2024 shows only a 2.9% decrease in the number of sewage spills compared to 2023.

The chair of Environment Agency, Alan Lovell, said: “This year’s data shows we are still a long way off where we need to be to stop unnecessary sewage pollution.”

This isn’t their first attempt to improve Sheffield’s water quality. Despite a 2020-2025 plan, they faced significant failures and yet bills are set to increase by 28.9%.

An investigation by regulator Ofwat found that Yorkshire water left untreated wastewater into the region’s rivers for an average of seven hours per day in 2023, during their first scheme. 

This has led to Yorkshire Water having to pay £40 million to restore the rivers further and begin its action plan for 2025-2030.

Yorkshire Water said: “Our environmental performance has not matched our, or our customer’s expectations.”

The River Don is Sheffield’s largest river spanning 70 miles, and has been negatively affected by the sewage overflows. 

Yorkshire Water have invested £1.4 million to tackle this issue of frequent storm discharges flowing into the river Don and aim to reduce it by 48%.

A spokesperson for the Don Catchment River Trust have said: “Unfortunately sewage is discharged into the rivers in the Don & Rother catchment on a regular basis.

“Sewage in our rivers primarily results from a combination of outdated infrastructure, an increase in extreme rainfall events, and overflows from combined sewer systems.”

This can have major environmental concerns for the river’s biodiversity, untreated sewage introduces excess nutrients like nitrates and phosphates, which can disrupt the ecosystem.

The Don Catchment River Trust said: “High levels of nutrients can cause excessive growth of algae and plants and these smother watercourses and can deplete oxygen levels in river water, making it less likely to provide a healthy home for plants and animals.”

Yorkshire Water is investing £8.2bn over the next five years to enhance its services, aiming for long-term improvements by reinforcing infrastructure, reducing storm overflows and improve its services. It is their biggest investment plan in over 20 years. 

Yorkshire Water said: “It’s necessary to ensure that our water and wastewater services continue to meet high standards and address environmental concerns.”