Yorkshire Water has eliminated the use of chlorine and sulphur dioxide gas in its treatment works.
The company is the first in the sector to take the initiative in a bid remove any risk of toxic gas escapes.
The £14 million project took over two years to complete and involved replacing dosing systems at ten of its water treatment works.
The gas disinfection systems have been replaced with a mix of sodium hypochlorite and sodium bisulphite chemical dosing systems, which contain 15 per cent chlorine solution.
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 delivers the same standard of treated water compliance, without any health and safety risks to our staff or the public that chlorine poses.”
The use of chlorine in UK water treatment is being phased out on health and safety grounds despite its long-term use across the sector.
Water companies in other European countries including Netherlands, Germany and Denmark have eliminated the use of chlorine in their water treatment.