Yorkshire Water has been billing Ilkley households for treating sewage whilst actually discharging it straight into the river. 

In 2021-22 Ilkley Households were billed for Sewarage. This is "the charge for taking away and treat the water you use. This charge includes water that drains from roads and footpaths into public sewers". 

In 2021-22 Yorkshire Water discharged sewage and household water into the river at Ilkley for 1252.75 hours over 146 days of the year. In previous years this has been 2018 – 123 days, and 2019 -114, 2020- 120. For over 1/3rd of the year untreated sewage is being discharged into the Wharfe at Ilkley. For that duration Ilkley residents have been paying for sewerage that was not being provided. 

When other companies do not provide the services as described they issue compensation. For example, Virgin Media offers an automatic Speed Apology refund on your bill when the service you are receiving does not match the broadband speed for which you are paying. For example, one of our members pays for 200 Mbs broadband speed (£28/month). When Virgin Media were not providing these speeds, they were automatically given £5 off their bill for each month that this was the case.

Ilkley households have not received compensation for 2021-22, or the previous years where we have on record the same frequency of non-delivery (sewage not being treated but discharged through the storm overflow directly into the river).

We are therefore requesting compensation for Ilkley households the four years we have on record where household sewerage services have not been delivered based on data supplied by Yorkshire Water to the Ilkley Clean River Group. 

At minimum we expect a refund of the portion of the household bill related to sewerage for those four years. This does not of course compensate for the damage to our river or the impact on those whose health has been put at risk. Visitors with their children and local children use the river below the sewage treatment works where as yet you have failed to provide warning signs that adequately inform the public of the risk. Despite the volume of reporting, footage of the storm overflows in operation, and the fact that the frequency exceeds all limits (SOAF states 40 per year on a regular basis; the water industry act 1991) you continue to use the EA permit as a license to pollute with complete disregard for Ilkley customer's expectations. 

We would therefore also expect an additional compensation in relation to this misuse of our custom.

At minimum we would expect a refund of 50% of the last year’s proportion of the bill for sewerage. 

We expect this compensation to be issued to every Ilkley household as a lump sum.

Example

A household bill for 2022-23 includes 'Sewerage' billed at £263.45.  We are expecting a lump sum payment of £132 to this household