Yorkshire Water Faces Questions Over Sewage Discharge Figures And Future Water Security

​Some welcome progress, but discharge hours remain a major concern.

​Cllr Phil Redshaw, Lib Dem Ward Councillor for Cottingham North and Group Spokesperson for Environment and Transport, will question Yorkshire Water about sewage and wastewater discharges and future water security when the company appears before East Riding of Yorkshire Council's Environment & Regeneration Committee on 2nd September 2026.

​The committee meeting provides an opportunity to seek clear, measurable commitments from Yorkshire Water while holding them to account for their recent performance.

​Cllr Redshaw will welcome the 27% reduction in storm-overflow incidents across Hull and the East Riding compared to the base year of 2021, but the number of incidents isn't anywhere close to the whole story.

​"The key issue is not simply the number of incidents, but the duration of the discharges," says Cllr Redshaw.

​If you look at the performance of all water companies in England, the overall reduction in discharge hours since 2021 was 30%.

​By comparison, Yorkshire Water has achieved only a 6.5% reduction, from 30,493 hours to 28,528 hours, despite having 12% (122 mm) less rainfall (906 mm vs. 1,028 mm).

​"I want to know what Yorkshire Water is doing at these worst-performing sites and what reduction in discharge hours we can expect to be delivered in the next four years."

​There are five sites responsible for 6,647 hours (23%) of all discharges. The 10 worst-performing sites in 2025 account for 9,944 hours, having more than doubled their discharge hours from 4,645 hours in 2021 to 9,944 hours, and currently represent 36% of all discharges.

​Cllr Redshaw also raised the longer-term security of water supplies.

​“It is welcome that Yorkshire has so far avoided widespread hosepipe restrictions, but we can't assume future years will be as favourable."

​“Yorkshire Water has several new service reservoirs being built, but there isn't currently a new large, traditional reservoir under construction in Yorkshire. I want to understand what would trigger the investment for additional strategic water storage, particularly as we face the prospect of more frequent periods of high temperatures and lower rainfall due to climate change."

​“We need to make sure we are planning ahead rather than simply reacting to the next drought."

​“Yorkshire Water is making significant investments, and where those investments are delivering results, we should acknowledge that. But residents also deserve to know whether the improvements we are seeing are sustainable and whether the company has a sufficiently long-term plan for the security and quality of East Yorkshire's water.”