Yorkshire Water first in sector to eliminate chlorine gas

Yorkshire Water has announced that has become the first company in the water sector to eliminate all ageing chlorine and sulphur dioxide gas use from its water treatment works in a bid remove any risk of toxic gas escapes.

Yorkshire Water's new chemical dosing systems replace the old chlorine gas systems

The £14 million project has taken two years to complete and involved replacement of dosing systems at 10 of its water treatment works.

The decision was taken on health and safety grounds to eradicate the risk of a worst-case scenario major toxic gas leak.

Yorkshire Water has replaced the gas disinfection system with a mix of sodium hypochlorite and sodium bisulphite chemical dosing systems, which contain only 15 per cent chlorine solution, posing significantly less risk.

Mark Broady, Yorkshire Water’s project manager, said: “There are no regulatory compliance orders requesting us to remove chlorine gas to treat water, but we have come to the conclusion that it is a hazardous system.

"Its removal was identified as a core element of our Safety Improvement Plan, which aims to make us a market leader when it comes to health and safety. Our new sodium-based liquid dosing systems deliver the same standard of treated water compliance, without any health and safety risks to our staff or the public that chlorine poses.”

Read WWT's feature on the use of chlorine in drinking water treatment here