Yorkshire Water
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Yorkshire Water is a water supply and treatment utility company servicing
West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...
,
South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a ceremonial and metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. The county has four council areas which are the cities of Doncaster and Sheffield as well as the boroughs of Barnsley and Rotherham. In N ...
, the
East Riding of Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a ceremonial county and unitary authority area in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, South Yorkshire to t ...
, part of
North Lincolnshire North Lincolnshire is a unitary authority area in Lincolnshire, England, with a population of 167,446 in the 2011 census. The borough includes the towns of Scunthorpe, Brigg, Haxey, Crowle, Epworth, Bottesford, Kirton in Lindsey and Barton ...
, most of
North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...
and part of
Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...
, in England. The company has its origins in the Yorkshire Water Authority, one of ten regional water authorities created by the
Water Act 1973 The Water Act 1973 (1973 c.37) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reorganised the water, sewage and river management industry in England and Wales. Water supply and sewage disposal were removed from local authority control, ...
, and privatised under the terms of the
Water Act 1989 The Water Act 1989 (1989 c.15) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reorganised the bodies responsible for all aspects of water within England and Wales. Whereas previous legislation, particularly the Water Act 1973, had focuse ...
, when Yorkshire Water plc, the parent company of the Yorkshire Water business, was floated on the
London Stock Exchange London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Pau ...
. The parent company was
Kelda Group Kelda Group is a British utility company. It is based in Bradford, England. It was formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange and a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index, but was taken private by a group of investors, Saltaire Water, in 2008. Sa ...
in 1999. In February 2008, Kelda Group was bought by a consortium of infrastructure funds. It is regulated under the
Water Industry Act 1991 The Water Industry Act 1991 (c. 56) is an Act of the United Kingdom Parliament consolidating previous enactments relating to the water supply and the provision of wastewater services in England and Wales. It further implemented recommendations of ...
.


Area

The company's area includes
West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...
,
South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a ceremonial and metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. The county has four council areas which are the cities of Doncaster and Sheffield as well as the boroughs of Barnsley and Rotherham. In N ...
, the
East Riding of Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a ceremonial county and unitary authority area in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, South Yorkshire to t ...
, part of
North Lincolnshire North Lincolnshire is a unitary authority area in Lincolnshire, England, with a population of 167,446 in the 2011 census. The borough includes the towns of Scunthorpe, Brigg, Haxey, Crowle, Epworth, Bottesford, Kirton in Lindsey and Barton ...
, most of
North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...
and part of
Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...
. The area is adjoined on the north by that of
Northumbrian Water Northumbrian Water Limited is a water company in the United Kingdom, providing mains water and sewerage services in the English counties of Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, Durham and parts of North Yorkshire, and also supplying water as Essex and ...
, on the west by
United Utilities United Utilities Group plc (UU), the United Kingdom's largest listed water company, was founded in 1995 as a result of the merger of North West Water and NORWEB. The group manages the regulated water and waste water network in North West Englan ...
, on the south west by
Severn Trent Water Severn Trent plc is a water company based in Coventry, England. It supplies 4.6 million households and business across the Midlands and Wales. It is traded on the London Stock Exchange and a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. Severn Trent, the ...
and on the south by
Anglian Water Anglian Water is a water company that operates in the East of England. It was formed in 1989 under the partial Water privatisation in England and Wales, privatisation of the water industry. It provides water supply, sewerage and sewage treatment ...
. It serves 5.5 million households and 140,000 business customers, and owns over of land.


Environmental record

Yorkshire Water has received fines for breaches of environmental law. For example: * Yorkshire Water wa
fined twice in April 2007
The first offence was for allowing polluting matter to enter Clifton beck in
Brighouse Brighouse is a town within the metropolitan borough of Calderdale, in West Yorkshire, England. Historically within the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is situated on the River Calder, east of Halifax. It is served by Junction 25 of the M62 m ...
, contrary to section 85(1) of the Water Resources Act 1991. The final incident killed one third of the wildlife along over a mile of the stream.ENDS Report 388, May 2007, p. 54 A further incident in the same beck led to a fine of £2,400 in 2004. Yorkshire Water argued that the blockage causing the offence was caused by a third party. Eleven days later, the company was in court again to admit to breaching its discharge consent at its Neiley sewage works, Honley. The discharge consent allowed for
biological oxygen demand Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) is the amount of dissolved oxygen (DO) needed (i.e. demanded) by aerobic biological organisms to break down organic material present in a given water sample at a certain temperature over a specific time period. T ...
to exceed 21 mg/L more than three times a year. The
Environment Agency The Environment Agency (EA) is a non-departmental public body, established in 1996 and sponsored by the United Kingdom government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with responsibilities relating to the protection and enha ...
demonstrated that the works had breached this limit five times in 2005, resulting in a fine of £16,000 plus £754 in costs. * Yorkshire Water was fined £6,000 and ordered to pay £9,051 in costs for supplying "unfit water" in May 2006 in a prosecution brought by the
Drinking Water Inspectorate The Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) is a section of Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) set up to regulate the public water supply companies in England and Wales. Based in Whitehall, it produces an annual report showing th ...
, under the Water Industry Act 1991. It pleaded guilty to three offences. Properties in Harlow Moor, Harrogate, had received discoloured water supplies in February 2004, which was caused by work on its supply mains stirring up sediment. About 1,200 properties were affected and 64 customers complained. The Drinking Water Inspectorate said to the ENDS Report that this was not the first time that the company had failed to check valves before working on its distribution mains. Before this incident, the DWI had prosecuted it four times. * Yorkshire Water's largest fine, of £119,000 (reduced to £80,000 on appeal), with costs of £125,598, was received in December 2000 after pleading guilty to seventeen charges of supplying water unfit for human consumption. * Yorkshire Water was investigated under caution in October 2008 by the Environment Agency following a leak of sewage into Whitby Harbour. The leak was caused by a pump failure and resulted in sewage leaking into the harbour for 52 hours.


Performance

In June 1996, Yorkshire Water was effectively fined £40 million by the regulator,
Ofwat , type = , nativename = , nativename_a = , nativename_r = , logo = Ofwat logo.svg , logo_width = 150px , logo_caption = , seal = , seal_width = , seal_caption = , picture = , picture_width = , picture_caption = , formed = ...
, by freezing their ability to raise bills for customers. This was a result of what Ofwat described as a "failure to deliver the standards required to consumers". This fine was a result of being the most hated water company during the "year of the drought" (1995). However, Yorkshire Water's performance had turned around so much so that the company was awarded the title by ''Utility Week magazine'' three years in succession while no other water company has won it more than once." The company has been criticised (2022) for losing 283 million litres of water a day due to leakages. The company says that this is a 50% reduction on the period 1995/96.


1992 Sludge tip blocks River Colne, Huddersfield

A landslip of sewage sludge engulfed a sewage works at Huddersfield in 1992. Almost of sewage slipped from its Deighton waste tip on to the plant, and completely blocked of the River Colne. The disaster also forced the closure of a nearby ICI plant.


1995 Year of Drought

For months between September 1995 and January 1996 reservoirs in the west side of the region ran dry, and water had to be taken by (up to) 700 tankers (delivering of water a day) from the east side of the region near
Goole Goole is a port town and civil parish on the River Ouse in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The town's historic county is the West Riding of Yorkshire. According to the 2011 UK census, Goole parish had a population of 19,518, an increa ...
in a convoy of trucks, with 3,500 daily deliveries along the M62 in a drastic emergency measure which cost £3 million a week, eventually totalling £33 million for the entire tankering operation. The trucks were famously shown on TV delivering water into Booth Wood Reservoir. The company has now built a pipeline from the east to the west to allow the balancing of water levels should the need arise. Following the "year of drought", Yorkshire Water became known as "the most hated water company" during this period, with "staff having to travel in unmarked vans for fear of reprisals". Many suspected Yorkshire Water would never be able to win back customers' trust.


2007 Hull floods

The company came under intense criticism when the Bransholme pumping station failed, worsening the flood damage to the city and flooding two thousand homes on the Kingswood and
Bransholme Bransholme is an area and a housing estate on the north side of Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The name Bransholme comes from an old Scandinavian word meaning Brand's water meadow (''brand'' or ''brandt'' meant 'wild boa ...
estates. The pumping station was upgraded in 2016.


2022 Sheffield gas supply outage

Yorkshire Water were criticised in December 2022 when a burst
water main A water distribution system is a part of water supply network with components that carry potable water from a centralized treatment plant or wells to consumers to satisfy residential, commercial, industrial and fire fighting requirements. Definit ...
operated by the company caused flooding in the Stannington area of
Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...
, which subsequently entered the local gas network and left thousands of properties without a natural gas supply for more than a week amid below-freezing temperatures. The burst water main occurred during the evening of 2 December and leaked more than 400,000 litres of water into the local gas pipe network before finally being fully repaired five days later.
Sheffield City Council Sheffield City Council is the city council for the metropolitan borough of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England. It consists of 84 councillors, elected to represent 28 wards, each with three councillors. It is currently under No Overall Contr ...
declared a
major incident Emergency management or disaster management is the managerial function charged with creating the framework within which communities reduce vulnerability to hazards and cope with disasters. Emergency management, despite its name, does not actuall ...
and aid was distributed to residents as a result of the crisis.


Customer service

Yorkshire Water ranked 11th of 21 water companies in Ofwat's 'Satisfaction by company' survey 2012/13. in January 2015 the UK Customer Service Index (UKCSI) announced that Yorkshire Water was the leader for service in the Utilities sector, they were also the second most improved organisation in the whole UKCSI, beating competitors such as Severn Trent, Anglian, Thames Water as well as United Utilities and EDF. The UKCSI is the only external measure showing the state of customer satisfaction in the UK and allows individuals to benchmark across all sectors as well as utilities.


Drinking water quality

Not taking into account human composition: In the year ending 31 March 2013, 99.93% of Yorkshire Water's samples met the UK standards; in the previous year it was 99.95%.


Carbon footprint

In 2012/13 the company's greenhouse gas emissions totalled 386 kilotonnes, compared to 394 kilotonnes the previous year.


Constituents

The authority created in 1973 took over the following public sector water supply utilities: * Barnsley Corporation * Bradford Corporation * Huddersfield Corporation * Kingston upon Hull Corporation * Leeds Corporation * Rotherham Corporation * Scarborough Corporation * Sheffield Corporation * Norton Urban District Council * Rawmarsh Urban District Council * Calderdale Water Board * Claro Water Board * Craven Water Board * Doncaster and District Joint Water Board * East Yorkshire (Wolds Area) Water Board * Mid Calder Water Board * Northallerton and the Dales Water Board * Pontefract, Goole and Selby Water Board * Rombalds Water Board * Ryedale Joint Water Board * Wakefield and District Water Board * Yorkshire River Authority In early 1999 the company took over York Waterworks Company, a small water-only company serving the city of York.


Reservoirs

Yorkshire Water allows recreational use of some of 113 of its 120+ reservoirs. Activities include walking, fishing, horse riding, cycling, water sports and bird watching. Several sailing clubs are afforded the use of certain reservoirs for their sailing activities, including Boshaw Whams, Embsay, Grimwith, Ponden, Scar House, Thornton Steward, and Warley Moor Reservoirs. Since privatisation of the water authorities in 1989, Yorkshire Water has made many of its locations accessible to the public, which not only cover water, but woodland and moorland. Walks exist around Brayton Barff, Fewston, Grimwith, Langsett, More Hall, Scammoden, Thruscross, and Undebank reservoirs. Additionally, in 2008, Yorkshire Water teamed up with long-distance walking writer Mark Reid to create the
Yorkshire Water Way The Yorkshire Water Way is a path that runs from Kettlewell in North Yorkshire to Langsett in South Yorkshire. It was devised by Mark Reid in conjunction with Yorkshire Water (YW) and it passes by over more than 20 reservoirs which are operated ...
, a walk which takes in Yorkshire Water Reservoirs along its route. *
Agden Reservoir Agden Reservoir is a water storage reservoir, situated at grid reference , west of the centre of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. It is owned by Yorkshire Water / Kelda Group. The reservoir covers an area of and has a capacity of 559 mil ...
*
Angram Reservoir Angram Reservoir is the first of three reservoirs on the River Nidd in Upper Nidderdale, North Yorkshire, England, the others being Scar House Reservoir and finally the compensation reservoir Gouthwaite Reservoir. It is located at OS map refe ...
*
Baitings Reservoir Baitings Reservoir is a large water supply reservoir operated by Yorkshire Water close to Ripponden in the West Yorkshire Pennines, England. It lies in the valley of the River Ryburn and is the higher of two reservoirs built to supply Wakefiel ...
*
Beaver Dyke Reservoirs Beaver Dyke Reservoirs were two water supply reservoirs (one of which is still extant), west of Harrogate in North Yorkshire, England. The main reservoir, also known as Lower Beaver Dyke Reservoir, was constructed in 1890 and had a surface ar ...
* Bilberry Reservoir * Blackmoorfoot Reservoir * Blakeley Reservoir * Booth Wood Reservoir * Boshaw Whams Reservoir * Brayton Barff * Broadstones Reservoir * Broomhead Reservoir * Brownhill Reservoir * Butterley Reservoir * Carr Bottom Reservoir *
Chelker Reservoir Chelker Reservoir is a man-made lake in North Yorkshire, England. It lies in the parish of Draughton, immediately north of the A65 road, between Skipton and the village of Addingham. It was put into service in 1866 and serves the Bradford ...
* Cod Beck Reservoir * Cupwith Reservoir * Dale Dike Reservoir *
Damflask Reservoir Damflask Reservoir is situated at grid reference five miles (eight kilometres) west of the centre of Sheffield in the Loxley valley close to the village of Low Bradfield and within the city's boundaries. The hamlet of Stacey Bank is located ...
* Dean Head Reservoir * Deer Hill Reservoir *
Digley Reservoir Digley Reservoir is a lake located downstream of Bilberry Reservoir, south west of Holmfirth, in West Yorkshire, England. The reservoir was planned during the 1930s, with much land being bought for its construction, but it was not completed un ...
* Doe Park Reservoir * East Ardsley Reservoir *
Eccup Reservoir Eccup Reservoir is a reservoir in Alwoodley, a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, near the village of Eccup. It was first constructed in 1843,''The Leeds Mercury'' Saturday, 3 June 1843; Issue 5713, Local Intelligence and expanded to it ...
*
Embsay Reservoir Embsay Reservoir is located above the village of Embsay, near Skipton in the Yorkshire Dales in North Yorkshire, England. It is owned by Yorkshire Water, and supplies water to the north and west of Skipton, feeding 25,000 homes. It has a dam he ...
*
Fewston Reservoir Fewston Reservoir is located in the Washburn valley north of Otley and west of Harrogate in Yorkshire, England. It was built in 1879. The capacity is about 3.5 million cubic metres. It can be found from the A59 road. The overflow from the rese ...
* Gorple Reservoir *
Gouthwaite Reservoir Gouthwaite Reservoir is a reservoir in Nidderdale, North Yorkshire, England. It is one of many in the area, others include Roundhill Reservoir and Angram Reservoir. Gouthwaite's sole purpose is a compensation reservoir for the River Nidd, i.e. ...
* Graincliffe Reservoir *
Grimwith Reservoir Grimwith Reservoir is located in the Yorkshire Dales in North Yorkshire, England. It was originally built by the Bradford Corporation as one of eleven reservoirs in the Yorkshire Dales to supply fresh water to Bradford. It is the largest reserv ...
* Harden Clough Reservoir * Haworth Moor Reservoir *
Hewenden Reservoir Hewenden Reservoir is a fresh-water reservoir near to Cullingworth in West Yorkshire, England. The Bradford Corporation built the reservoir, which was flooded in 1845, and is now part of the Yorkshire Water portfolio. History Hewenden Reservoir ...
* Holme Styes Reservoir * Ingbirchworth Reservoir * Keighley Moor Reservoir *
Langsett Reservoir Langsett Reservoir is in Yorkshire, England, near the villages of Langsett and Upper Midhope, on the edge of the Peak District National Park. The reservoir was constructed between 1898 and 1904, and is now managed by Yorkshire Water. Fed by t ...
* Leeshaw Reservoir *
Leighton Reservoir Leighton Reservoir is a reservoir which drains via the River Burn to the River Ure in North Yorkshire, England. It neighbours Roundhill Reservoir and is about west of Masham. It takes its name from the nearby village of Leighton. Work on t ...
* Longwood Reservoir * Lower Barden Reservoir *
Lower Laithe Reservoir Lower Laithe Reservoir is a man-made upland reservoir that lies west of Haworth, West Yorkshire, England. The reservoir was initially approved under the Keighley Waterworks and Improvement Act of 1869 but work did not begin on its constructi ...
* Lower Windelden Reservoir * Manshead Reservoir * March Ghyll Reservoir * More Hall Reservoir * Ogden Reservoir * Ponden Reservoir * Ramsden Wood Reservoir *
Redmires Reservoirs The Redmires Reservoirs are a group of three reservoirs in Fulwood, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They are fed from the Hallam Moors by various small streams including Fairthorn Clough. The three reservoirs are named Upper, Middle and ...
* Reva Reservoir * Ringstone Edge Reservoir * Rivelin Reservoir *
Roundhill Reservoir Roundhill Reservoir is situated near Leighton Reservoir in North Yorkshire, England. It was constructed by Harrogate Corporation early in the 20th century. Water from the reservoir is fed into Yorkshire Water's grid. Roundhill reservoir is o ...
* Royd Moor Reservoir * Ryburn Reservoir *
Scammonden Reservoir Scammonden Reservoir is a water reservoir in West Yorkshire, England. Its water surface area when full is . The level of the bellmouth overflow above sea level is . The reservoir holds . Its length is . History Scammonden Dam is part of the ...
* Scargill Reservoir *
Scar House Reservoir Scar House Reservoir is the second of the three reservoirs in Upper Nidderdale, England, the others being Angram Reservoir and Gouthwaite Reservoir. Between them they attract around 150,000 visitors a year. Angram and Scar House were built to ...
* Scout Dike Reservoir *
Swinsty Reservoir Swinsty Reservoir is a reservoir in the Washburn valley north of Otley and west of Harrogate in Yorkshire, England. Construction began in 1871 and was completed in 1878. The capacity is about 866 million gallons, with a surface area of 63 hect ...
*
Thornton Steward Reservoir Thornton Steward Reservoir is a reservoir north of the village of Thornton Steward in North Yorkshire, England. It is owned by Yorkshire Water, and supplies drinking water to Swaledale, Wensleydale, Northallerton, and Thirsk. Thornton Steward ...
* Thruscross Reservoir * Timble Reservoir * Tophill Low Reservoir and Nature Reserve * Underbank Reservoir *
Upper Barden Reservoir Upper Barden Reservoir is an upland fresh water reservoir, one of two reservoirs that collect water from Barden Moor, and dam Barden Beck, a tributary of the River Wharfe in the Yorkshire Dales, North Yorkshire, England. The reservoir was opene ...
* Upper Windleden Reservoir * Walshaw Dean Reservoirs *
Watersheddles Reservoir Watersheddles Reservoir is an upland artificial lake in Lancashire, England. The reservoir was opened in 1877 by the Keighley Corporation Water Works, and is now owned by Yorkshire Water. It supplies water to the Worth Valley and Keighley area a ...
(in
Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...
, but supplies West Yorkshire) * Wessendean Head Reservoir * Wessenden Reservoir * Wheecher Reservoir * Whinney Gill Reservoir * Widdop Reservoir * Winscar Reservoir * Withens Clough Reservoir


References


Sources

* *


External links

*


Video clips


Yorkshire Water at YouTube

Report into Hull floods in November 2007

Pumping station fails in June 2007 and Yorkshire Water apologises on the BBC
{{Water companies of the United Kingdom Water companies of England Former nationalised industries of the United Kingdom Companies based in Bradford Organizations established in 1973 1973 establishments in England