Slaithwaite sanitary station pump out

As you may be aware, the pump out facility at Slaithwaite on the Huddersfield Narrow Canal has been out of action for several years, with boaters using the facility heading west at Wool Road, 12 km away, or east at Aspley Marina, 8 km away.

The pipework at the Slaithwaite pump out facility to the mains is approx 85m long and has been damaged by tree roots along its length.  This means a full replacement of the pipework is needed.  The length of the pipe and complexity of the location limits the type of machinery that could be used to fix this and the cost of replacement is prohibitively expensive at circa £100,000.

Taking this cost into account along with the significant expenditure required to look after our 239 other customer facilities across the network, we have taken the difficult decision to permanently close the pump out and to remove the pump out apparatus.

The other facilities at the site such as the toilets, Elsan and waterpoint will however remain.

We appreciate that the permanent closure of the Slaithwaite pump out is not a desirable outcome, however we hope you will understand that to bring it back into working order would impact upon our ability to maintain other sites and the decision is a pragmatic one taken after serious discussion.

The works to remove the pump out are due to commence on the 18th October and are expected to take a week to complete.

A blockage has been found between the pump out cabin and the facilities building which requires excavation work before a repair can be completed.

Unfortunately, currently we are not in a position to be able to carry out this work.

The facility for cassettes is in full working order.

The nearest pump out facilities are at lock 23W going towards Manchester or Aspley Marina below Lock 1E heading to Huddersfield.

Our contractors have attended the site yesterday (16/05/17) to investigate the fault with the pump-out at Slaithwaite Services.

Unfortunately, the issue causing the pump out be out of use is located underground and will require further investigation, we are going to have to dig it up.

This is going to take a few weeks to arrange and sort out, so the pump out is going to have to remain out of action.  We’ll update when we have more information.

The pump out at Slaithwaite station is still currently out of order due to our contractors where unable to attend site today. They will be on site first thing tomorrow.

We will provide a update when the contractors have attended site.

The pump out at Slaithwaite sanitary station is currently out of order.

We are awaiting attendance by our contractors for repair and will provide a further update on Monday afternoon.

Pump out is available if travelling from the West at Wool Road, or Aspley Marina if travelling from the East.