South West Water

Last updated

South West Water
Company type Private
Industry Water industry
Founded1989
Headquarters Exeter, Devon
Area served
 South West England
Key people
  • Gill Rider (Chair)
  • Susan Davy (CEO)
Products
Production output
  • 0.439 Gl/day (drinking)
  • 0.439 Gl/day (recycled)
Brands Bournemouth Water
Services
Revenue
  • Increase2.svg £0.587 billion (2022-23)
  •     £0.584 billion (2021-22)
Number of employees
1200
Parent Pennon Group
Website southwestwater.co.uk

South West Water is a British private utility company responsible for the water supply and waste water treatment services throughout Devon and Cornwall and in small areas of Dorset and Somerset. [1] The company also supplies water in the south of England area under the name Bournemouth Water. South West Water was created in 1989 with the privatisation of the water industry. [1] It was preceded by the South West Water Authority which was formed by the Water Act 1973 as one of ten regional water authorities formed by a merger of various statutory and local authority water undertakings. South West Water is part of the Pennon Group. [2]

Contents

History

South West Water was formed in 1989 when the water industry in the United Kingdom was privatised. It is responsible for the supply of the region's drinking water, the treatment and disposal of sewage, and the protection of inland and bathing waters. It is regulated by Ofwat, the Water Services Regulation Authority, being required to conform to United Kingdom standards. [1] Water from the Littlehampston treatment works, which serves about 162,000 people in the Torbay area of Devon, has on four separate occasions been contaminated by the dangerous cryptosporidium parasite, most recently in May 2024. [3] [4] [5] In July 1988 the water supply to Camelford, served by the Lowermoor treatment works, was severely contaminated by aluminium sulphate. Many people had medical issues after this and some died. [6]

SWW is part of the Pennon Group.

The following public utilities were taken over by the South West Water Authority in 1973: [7]

† Only the area of the authority which drained into the River Lim.

It was the subject of an episode of the fly-on-the-wall documentary Back to the Floor in 1997. [8]

The business of Bournemouth Water was merged into South West Water in April 2016.

Activities

The main source of the water supplied by South West Water is the twenty reservoirs they own, with 90% of the water coming from reservoirs and rivers. Upper Tamar Lake has facilities for angling and watersports, and is used by a number of local clubs including fishing and model yachting clubs. [9] The South West Lakes Trust is a charitable organisation that manages fifty inland water sites across Cornwall, Devon and West Somerset, attracting around two million visitors annually. [10]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "About us". South West Water. Retrieved 7 July 2016.
  2. ↑ "Pennon Group Plc". South West Water. Retrieved 7 July 2016.
  3. ↑ Pearce, Fred (8 September 1995). "Parasites on tap land company in deep water". New Scientist . Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  4. ↑ "Drinking Water 2020" (PDF). Drinking Water Inspectorate UK. p. 84. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  5. ↑ "Boil water warning after parasite found". BBC News . Retrieved 21 May 2024.
  6. ↑ "Camelford water poisoning: Authority 'gambled with lives'". BBC News . 14 March 2012.
  7. ↑ "The South West Water Authority Constitution Order 1973 (1973 No. 1307)" (PDF). Retrieved 2 February 2024.
  8. ↑ "South West Water (1997) | BFI". Ftvdb.bfi.org.uk. Archived from the original on 23 April 2013. Retrieved 7 July 2016.
  9. ↑ "Enjoy the lakes". South West Water. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
  10. ↑ "South West Lakes Trust". South West Lakes Trust. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
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