While not a Development Site itself, Yorkshire Water is integrally involved in all of the Housing developments in the Parish. 

In any housing development YW is usually responsible for:-

• The removal of site surface water (to a safe location, that must not increase the likelihood of flooding)
• The safe removal of foul water (sewage, household used water and some surface water) which should be piped to a 'local' sewage Works
• The handling of that foul water
• The supply of fresh (drinking) water.

In recent years at least, the village residents have been very dissatisfied by the performance and response from YW regarding the first three responsibilities as above.  There has been enormous publicity over sewage  causing raised manholes in the heart of the village, and in several other locations, with it then being washed away into the Beck.  Some of the flooding in the village comes from too much surface water being directed (piped) into the Beck. Most of this is historical though worsened in the last 15 years or so as a result of a number of mini site developments, even though some have attenuation tanks to 'control' this additional s/w being added to the main sewers.  YW's understanding of the mainly Victorian piped network has been inadequate and the plan it uses is hugely inaccurate as well as incomplete - confusion for example between pipes handling just sewage and those also taking some surface water (mixed), with, in reality, the latter dominating and being the main problem during heavy rain.

All of our evidence is that the system (including the Sewage Works) is now full and cannot take any more - certainly not the effects from a housing estate.  

A data file relating to outflows, covering all Water Authorities across the country, is produced annually.  Recently, the one for 2024, providing the number and duration of outflows/overflows of sewage, detailing the individual performance of all of the sewage works (or equivalent) for each 'authority' including Yorkshire Water within which there are over 2,000 locations, Bishop Monkton being one, showed that -

Our Sewage Works in 2024 recorded 184 separate Outflows of Raw Sewage into the River!  This raw sewage was piped directly past the Sewage Works and into the river. That makes us the 11th worst in Yorkshire, worse than in previous years where we were already worst than most. 64% worse than in 2023. That's equivalent to one every other day.

The data also showed that it ran for a total of 1623 hours.  That's equivalent to 4½ hours every day!  Again, worse than recorded in previous years.

Many residents consider this level of discharge to be unacceptable and it would appear, by the worsening pattern, that YW are doing nothing to improve it.  The data is recorded/collected by the Water Companies, though the actual figures could be higher, as there has been plenty in the media over recent years where concerned individuals have directly viewed and counted what's happening in some locations, with their results unsurprisingly higher.

There are numerous 'government' agencies and quangoes involved in reviewing and setting 'regulations - Environment Agency, Ofwat, a UWWTR (Urban Waste Water Treatment Regulations), a WINEP (Water industry National Environment Programme) and a SOAF 2025 (Storm Overflow Assessment Framework) to name just some! 

Unsurprisingly, the actual rules or law are far from clear but the aim is to allow the water authorities to by-pass the treatment works in the situations where there is a heavy storm (when the sewers receive a considerable amount of surface water as well as sewage).  These guidelines are to be administered by the EA mainly together with Ofwat.  There are a set of investigation 'triggers' for each location, based on the number of spillages/outflows across time periods - 

• if greater than 30 across 1 year
• if greater than 20 across 2 years
• if greater than 10 across 3 or more years

If these are breached then the EA should conduct an environmental impact quantification, improvements cost/benefit analysed and a decision made with a BTKNEEC report (best technical knowledge not exceeding excessive costs)!  Plenty of room for fudge.

Our Sewage Works clearly breaches the above guidelines, many times over.  We have no idea what studies and action might or might not have been undertaken.

The above triggers are to be replaced by gradually increasing 'targets' for 2035, 2045 and 2050 to the point where no storm overflows will be permitted outside of unusually heavy rainfall.  So still latitude given.

Returning to the current levels of outflow, 184 in 2024, which should only occur (be permitted?) when associated with heavy storms in the area.  Bishop Monkton, in 2024, did not experience anywhere near 184 storms so a majority of these arose at other times.  This clearly breaches the 'regulations' and is another demonstration (with data) of how the current village sewage system is overladen and has no spare capacity, despite what YW might claim.