Yorkshire uses UV disinfection to improve bathing water quality

Yorkshire Water has added ultraviolet (UV) disinfection measures to two of its treatment works to help improve the quality of bathing water at the River Wharfe in Ilkley.

The location was last year the first inland bathing site in England to be designated by the Environment Agency, prompting the company to set out £13 million of investment in that stretch of river.

Earlier this year the EA classified the site as ‘poor’ in its annual bathing water quality assessment.

The company said the installations will provide an additional layer of treatment for the final effluent that is released back to the river following treatment of wastewater at the Draughton and Beamsley sites.

Grassington treatment works has also been earmarked for the UV treatment but work has been disrupted there due to Oystercatchers nesting and breeding nearby.

Yorkshire is working with BarhaleDoosan JV and Xylem to install the measure, which uses UV-C to break down chemical structures within microbes present in the final effluent returned to the environment. This means they are unable to reproduce and cause infections.

The company said the process is expected to lead to the inactivation of “99.99% of targeted organisms” before discharge to the environment.

Ben Roche, director of wastewater at Yorkshire Water, said: “While UV disinfection and the other measures we have outlined in our investment plan will help to improve water quality, they alone will not lead to an improvement in bathing water standards.

“Our modelling and citizen science work indicate pollution is entering the watercourses from a variety of sources and it is important other landowners and stakeholders take action to ensure water quality is improved, with the aim of improving the bathing water classification.”