Places features

Copley Waste Water Treatment Works today

Take a trip to Yorkshire Water's Waste Water Treatment Plant in the village of Copley and you might think you've landed in the middle of a Doctor Who adventure. And you don't even have to take a trip on the Tardis because, for the first time ever, its opening it's doors to the public.

Tour guide Richard Sears

Now you might be wondering what this plant - and Yorkshire Water has 600 of these across the region - actually does for its living apart from creating the occasional bad smell? Tour guide and Yorkshire Water Community Relations Manager Richard Sears says they want to show Halifax people the very important part the Copley treatment works plays in the cycle which aims to make West Yorkshire's water safe to use: "We call it from source to sea. When water falls in the reservoir it then becomes our responsibility. It's a huge process the water goes through to make it fit to drink in people's taps. There is a lack of appreciation of that, and it's what we are trying to get across through this series of open days. It's just to show people exactly what goes on behind the scenes when they turn the tap on and, likewise, when they flush the toilet. What goes on beyond the u-bend is – if you'll pardon the pun – what we are lifting the lid on in Copley."

The works were substantially rebuilt in 1968

Not only does Copley receive waste water from Halifax homes but it also deals with much of the effluent created by the district's industry. The flow of waste water is screened at Yorkshire Water's plant just along the road at Salterhebble. Richard says: "Anything bigger than 6 millimetres in diameter is automatically screened out. What kind of things am I talking about? All the unpleasant things that go down the toilet. The things people flush down that they really shouldn't flush down like condoms, sanitary towels, panty liners, things that really should be bagged and put in the bin. That can cause us real problems in terms of blocking the sewers and when the sewers block the overflow blocks and that can lead to the pollution of rivers like the Calder. That's such a shame when we've spent so much improving the quality of the water we regularly discharge."

The sludge cake holder!

Back in 1936 around 30 workers kept the waste water flowing through the Copley plant. Today it can be operated remotely from Yorkshire Water's regional control centre in Bradford or even by engineers from home using their 'toughbooks' (specially adapted laptops). Richard says: "In the old days there was much more emphasis put on how the treatment works looked so they were maintained to a very, very high standard so you would have flower beds, usually grown from the waste product that we generate here. These days, with the pressures on prices and bills there's no need to maintain the works to those standards. These are secure sites that the public can't just wander on to so who would we be maintaining them for? It's a needless expense."

1936, but would they recognise the scene today?

And while today Yorkshire Water may not need many human workers to run the plant, they have recruited the help of millions of tiny micro-organisms. These 'good' bacteria have been given a shiny new jacuzzi so they can break down the remaining harmful bacteria through a process known as aerobic digestion. But you've got to watch your step here. Richard explains: "If you fell into this tank you would sink straight to the bottom with very little chance of getting out alive. It would be a horrible way to die and that's because all the oxygen is dissolved in the water. It creates negative buoyancy and you sink like a stone. It's pointless having lifebelts because they would sink too." Specially trained divers have to be brought in to carry out any necessary repairs to the tanks. Richard believes "deep sea sewage diving" must certainly be one of the worst jobs in the world!

The treated water goes into the Calder

Very recently Yorkshire Water has invested £19million into the Copley plant to reduce levels of ammonia in the water going back into the river. This is to provide a good habitat for fish and other wildlife. As Richard points out: "Standards are forever changing and we have to build new treatment processes to keep up with modern day standards." Although they might well not recognise the Copley Waste Water Treatment Works as it appears today, the 30 workers who first set up shop here in 1936 might be pleased to know that the River Calder is now cleaner than at any time since the Industrial Revolution changed the face of West Yorkshire for ever.