Humber records more than 400 sewage spills in year

Sewage was discharged into the Humber for the equivalent of more than 200 days in 2024, according to data from the Rivers Trust.

The total number of sewage spills into waterways across England and Wales were down slightly from 2023, the figures showed.

A spokesperson for Yorkshire Water said the discharges were happening more than they would like, but said they were making progress on "reducing storm overflow activity" in the region.

Water companies are allowed to spill sewage into waterways during heavy rainfall in order to prevent overflows and flooding.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the figures for sewage spills into the Humber were 474 in 2024:

• Hull Waste Water Treatment Works had 194 spills in 2024 lasting a total of 2,499 hours (the equivalent of 104 days)
• Melton works had 154 spills lasting a total of 1,868 hours (the equivalent of 78 days)
• North Ferriby works had 126 spills lasting a total of 669 hours (the equivalent of 28 days)

Yorkshire Water said it had invested £3.4m to upgrade storm overflows in Brough and North Ferriby to reduce discharges into the River Humber. The upgrades there were part of the firm's £180m investment in the wider region.

Nicola Shaw, CEO of Yorkshire Water, said: "We know overflows are operating more than we, or our customers, would like, but we're pleased to begin to show progress on reducing storm overflow activity in our region.

"The reductions in discharges in 2024 resulted from both a drier year than 2023 and the hard work of our teams to deliver our £180m investment programme."

In total, there were 563,730 spills across England and Wales in 2024, according to the figures from the Rivers Trust, which is an average of 1,544 a day. That figure is down slightly from 1,588 per day in 2023.

The environment secretary, Steve Reed, said the figures were "disgraceful" and were as a result of years of underinvestment.

"We've already placed water companies under tough special measures through the landmark Water Act, banning unfair bonuses for polluting water bosses and introducing criminal charges for lawbreakers," he said.

"But we will go further and faster. That's why this government has secured over £100bn of private sector investment to upgrade our crumbling infrastructure and not only clean up our rivers, lakes and seas for good, but also help deliver economic growth across the country as part of our Plan for Change."

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