WRc

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The WRc Group is a company providing research and consultancy in water, waste and the environment in the United Kingdom. A government body, the Water Pollution Research Board, was set up in 1927 and was merged in 1974 with the Water Research Association and the Water Resources Board to form the Water Research Centre, which was controlled by, and undertook research for, the regional water authorities; the organisation was privatised in 1989 as WRc plc, then acquired by RSK Group in 2020.

Contents

History

The Water Pollution Research Board (WPRB) was established in 1927 by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR). [1]

The management board comprised up to eight members drawn from industry, commerce, academia and learned societies. In addition there were up to 12 ‘assessors’ from government departments such as: the Ministry of Agriculture, fisheries and food; the Development Commission; Ministry of Housing and Local Government; Ministry of Public Building and Works; the Board of Trade; the Ministry of Transport. [2]

The Board had no laboratories and fulfilled its remit of providing research and advice on sewage treatment by outsourcing and conducting surveys. [3] Laboratory facilities finally became available in 1940 when DSIR set up the Water Pollution Research Laboratory (WPRL) in Watford. [4] During the Second World War WPRL also worked in other areas, notably the creation of a device for airmen to make sea water acceptable as drinking water. [5]

An example of the WPRB's work was a major study of the tidal Thames. In 1948 the WPRB appointed the Thames Survey Committee to study the condition of the Thames Estuary. Of particular interest was the capacity of the river to purify the sewage and industrial effluents discharged into it. The committee first met in January 1949 and finally reported in a 607 page paper Effects of Polluting Discharges on the Thames Estuary in 1964. [2]

In 1955 the WPRL moved to a purpose-built laboratory [6] in Elder Way, Stevenage, and here it is associated with the first systematic analyses of sewage treatment. Following the 1974 reorganisation of the UK water supply industry both WPRL and the Water Resources Board (WRB) were transferred from the Civil Service and merged with the Water Research Association (WRA) to form a quango, controlled by the publicly-owned regional water authorities. The WRA had been founded in 1953 and provided research and advice on drinking water treatment to the municipal bodies responsible for drinking water supply; it was based at Medmenham, Buckinghamshire. The new organisation was renamed the Water Research Centre (WRC).

In 1989 the Water Research Centre was privatised and renamed WRc plc, as part of the privatisation of the UK water industry. As part of the process a small offshoot, the Foundation for Water Research (FWR), was created and the Stevenage site was shut down. In 2004 the Medmenham site was also closed, leaving Swindon as WRc's main site. The WRc Group employs around 150 staff. Until 2020, its shares were mainly owned by its staff and UK water companies; it was then acquired by the RSK Group. [7]

Achievements

Notable WRc achievements include:

1960s

1970s

1980s

Today

Today WRc works with a range of customers in the public and private sectors around the world. Its clients include:

Key people

Former constituent organisations

Water Research Association

The Water Research Association was established in 1953. [8] It was the central research organisation for the British water supply industry, and one of the official Research Associations administered by the Ministry of Technology. Its remit was to promote, assist and support research into domestic, commercial, industrial and agricultural use of water obtained from all sources. [9] Furthermore, it was to promote research into the water works trade and other industries by establishing laboratories and workshops and conduct experiments and to fund such work to improve the education of persons engaged in the industry. [9] Its research station, opened in 1961, was by the River Thames at Medmenham, Marlow, Buckinghamshire. It became part of the Water Research Centre in 1974. [8]

Water Resources Board

The Water Resources Board was established on 1 July 1964 under the provisions of the Water Resources Act 1963. Its duty was to advise river authorities and central government on the development of water resources in England and Wales. [10] The WRB had a staff of 160, principally engineers. A supervisory board met monthly. The WRB devised schemes such as one for a water grid in north east England which might also supply Sheffield and Chesterfield 200 miles to the south. [10] The WRB did not have a remit on water quality and this was a fatal handicap. [10] The Board was disbanded under the terms of the Water Act 1973. This dissolved the 29 River Authorities and created ten Water Authorities with much broader terms of reference. [10]

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References

  1. "Water Research Centre (formerly Water Pollution Research Laboratory), Stevenage". The National Archives. Retrieved 30 July 2016.
  2. 1 2 Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (1964). Effects of Polluting Discharges on the Thames Estuary. London: HMSO. pp. v, xv.
  3. "Department of Scientific and Industrial Research: Water Pollution Research Board and Laboratory".
  4. "Water Pollution Research". Nature. 145 (3673): 456. 1 March 1940. Bibcode:1940Natur.145R.456.. doi: 10.1038/145456b0 .
  5. Parker, A. (February 1942). "Potable Water from Sea-Water". Nature. 149 (3772): 184–186. Bibcode:1942Natur.149..184P. doi:10.1038/149184a0.
  6. "The Water Pollution Research Laboratory, Stevenage". Nature. 175 (4469): 1105–1107. 1 June 1955. Bibcode:1955Natur.175.1105.. doi: 10.1038/1751105a0 . PMID   14394119.
  7. "RSK scoops up WRc in ongoing acquisition campaign". Environment Analyst. 4 September 2020. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  8. 1 2 "The Water Research Association". The Water Research Association PANS Pest Articles. 16 (4): 731. December 1970. doi:10.1080/09670877009413446.
  9. 1 2 "Public Notices, The Water Research Association". The Times. 22 August 1953.
  10. 1 2 3 4 McCulloch, Christine S. (2009). "The Water Resources Board: England and Wales' venture into National Water Resources planning, 1964-1973". Water Alternatives. 2 (3): 461, 465, 466, 469.