Sheffield sewage: Labour campaigner calls for end to seven days of sewage dumping in River Rivelin

A Sheffield campaigner has started a petition calling on Yorkshire Water to end sewage dumping in a Sheffield river.

Lewis Dagnall, Labour candidate in the 2024 Stannington by-election, has highlighted data showing that in 2022 Yorkshire Water spilled sewage 65 times for 183 hours (the equivalent of more than seven days) from the sewer overflow system near Roscoe Bank.

Now, with Sheffield Hallam MP Olivia Blake, he has launched a petition calling on the private water company to install a more modern system.

Mr Dagnall said: "There’s an unacceptable level of sewage dumping in our rivers.

"I want to stop this in 2024; I’m calling on Yorkshire Water to invest in their infrastructure, upgrade the antiquated overflow system near Roscoe Bank, and install a modern system to stop the spills."

A Yorkshire Water spokesperson said: "Storm overflows operate to relieve pressure when there are periods of heavy or prolonged rain, to prevent sewage backing up in the system and flooding in homes and gardens.

"We completely understand the public’s interest in the operation of our overflows and are working hard to reduce the number of sewage discharges across the region, as we know this is important to our customers.

"We’re investing £180m in storm overflow improvements in the next two years. As part of this, a review of the overflow on Roscoe Bank using specialist software was undertaken and found periods of heavy rainfall to be the primary factor causing discharges. 

"We are now considering a variety of solutions to reduce the discharges at this site. Additionally, we have submitted plans to Ofwat for approval that outline a £1.4bn investment between 2025 and 2030 to further reduce the operation of overflows in Yorkshire."