WATER treatment sites in York could be the first in the country to be run by solar power, under new plans by Yorkshire Water.

The firm's parent company Kelda Water wants to build solar farms at Naburn and Elvington, to power their water and sewage works.

A spokesman said: "We are, on behalf of our sister company Yorkshire Water currently investigating two potential solar photovoltaic (PV) schemes at Elvington and Naburn, located next to Yorkshire Water waste and clean water works.

The company has assessed all its treatment plants to find the best sites to convert to solar power, and found Naburn's sewage treatment plant and Elvington's water treatment plants the best suited to a conversion.

She added: "These are part of a larger programme of renewable energy projects and would provide the two works directly with power from a renewable source - solar.

"Treating waste water and producing clean drinking water are energy-intensive processes, so we've been assessing many different sites across the region to identify the best possible locations for solar schemes."

The sites at Naburn and Elvington are two of the most "technically and economically viable" locations, the spokesman said, and the company is now looking at further survey work to minimise environmental impacts.

Screening requests have gone to City of York Council, before full planning applications are submitted. The company said the exact areas to be developed had not been finalised, and they would be consulting with people locally in the next few weeks.

The Naburn site could cover as much as 2.59 hectares, and would generate 1.17 megawatts of energy; but the larger Elvington site could be as big as 4 hectares producing up to two megawatts of energy.