Water regulator Ofwat has concluded its investigation into Yorkshire Water, securing an enforcement package of £40m to be paid by the wastewater company. Their investigation found on average the firm discharged untreated wastewater into the region’s rivers for seven hours a day in 2023, with almost half its storm overflows found to be in breach of regulations, in what the industry watchdog described as “serious failures”.

Photo description: Ribbelhead viaduct with its 24 massive stone arches 104 feet (32 metres) above the moor in Yorkshire Dales. Photo by Clément Proust / Pexels.

Since the regulator published its draft decision in August, Yorkshire Water has worked with Ofwat to put forward a package that will address the failures that the investigation has found, which includes:

• Paying £36.6m during 2025-30, to prioritise work on some of the most problematic storm overflows in environmentally sensitive areas to ensure they spill less than 20 times a year.
• Contributing £3.4m of support to the Great Yorkshire Rivers Partnership to enable them to go beyond their target for the next five years of clearing artificial barriers in Yorkshire rivers, which will improve water quality and biodiversity in the area and reconnect more than 500km of river.
• Committing to an action plan to ensure all of its storm overflows are compliant with legal requirements.

The cost of the enforcement package, which would be invested in the region, would not be passed on to customers and instead it would be paid for by the firm and its shareholders, Yorkshire Water said. News of the enforcement package comes a day after Yorkshire Water said it would embark on its largest infrastructure investment of the last 20 years, as it starts a five-year plan to replace more than 1,000 km of water mains.