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Yorkshire Water Assumes Ownership of Over 350 Sewage Pumping Stations

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Yorkshire Water Assumes Ownership of Over 350 Sewage Pumping Stations

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October 1st 2016 saw Yorkshire Water take up ownership of more than 350 sewage pumping stations.

This follows on from the new government legislation which was introduced back in 2011, on July 1st, determining that all water and sewage companies should take over the responsibility for privately owned sewerage pumping stations by October 1 2016.

Sewage pumping stations facilitate the pumping of sewage from homes, which flows along underground sewers to ultimately settle at the nearest water treatment plant, where it gets treated. Dating back a couple of years to 2014, Yorkshire Water has been making attempts to find hundreds of private sewage pumping stations which are hidden all throughout the region.

A total of 350 of these private sewage pumping stations have been identified to date, but the company believes there are more still to be located.

Dave Wilson, Transfer Manager at Yorkshire Water, said: “Sewage pumping stations can be situated anywhere; in gardens, on public land next to houses or businesses, or just on the side of the road.  Many are located in private gardens and land that we don’t normally have authority to enter which is why we’ve needed help from customers to find them. We’ve been working on this project since early in 2014 but we believe there are still more pumping stations to be found.”

Dave encouraged customers to get in touch; “It’s not too late for customers to ask us to visit and a survey a pumping station free of charge to check it’s eligible for transfer to Yorkshire Water ownership. Customers need to look out for steel access covers and/or a kiosk, usually green, which contains the electrical control equipment for the pumps.”

Those pumping stations serving more than one property and connect to the established public sewer network are the only ones which are eligible. However, if one serving a single property is located outside of that property’s boundaries, it will also be eligible.

When the transfer is concluded, Yorkshire Water will take up all responsibility for the maintenance, repair and energy costs associated with each pumping station. Another result of the transfer could bring into effect savings of up to £1,200 per year in shared maintenance and energy costs.

This would naturally stir up some inquisitiveness in some customers and those who want to understand more about private sewage pumping stations and how they work can find out more information through the company’s website. They can also get in touch with the company to report one they have knowledge of.

Some featured pictures depicting examples of pumping station control kiosks and their steel access covers are worth taking note of, taking into account the fact that the access covers can also be a lot smaller.

Andy McGowan
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