The
Water Industry Act 1991 (c. 56) is an Act of the United Kingdom Parliament consolidating previous enactments relating to the
waterWater is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...
supply and the provision of
wastewaterWastewater is any water that has been adversely affected in quality by anthropogenic influence. It comprises liquid waste discharged by domestic residences, commercial properties, industry, and/or agriculture and can encompass a wide range of potential contaminants and concentrations...
services in England and Wales. It further implemented recommendations of the Law Commission.
Sections
Part 1 deals with the appointment and duties of the
Director General of Water Services. Part 2 deals with appointment and regulation of
Undertakers, the
private sectorIn economics, the private sector is that part of the economy, sometimes referred to as the citizen sector, which is run by private individuals or groups, usually as a means of enterprise for profit, and is not controlled by the state...
water companies responsible for maintaining the water supply system in the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
Part 3 deals with the duties of the water companies with respect to water supply in England and Wales, and Part 4 and with respect to
sewerageA sanitary sewer is a separate underground carriage system specifically for transporting sewage from houses and commercial buildings to treatment or disposal. Sanitary sewers serving industrial areas also carry industrial wastewater...
.
Part 5 deals with the financial provisions for operating the system and Part 6 gives the water companies certain powers in order to discharge their duties.
Part 7 deals with the provision of information to interested parties and part 8 deals with miscellaneous details such as limiting the right to prosecute water companies in respect of sewerage offences.
Schedules
Notable schedule within the act include
4 Customer Service Committees;
5 Pressure and Constancy of Supply;
6 Rights of Entry;
9 &
12 Compensation Provisions.
Part 2 Water Undertakers
As of 1 April 2005 the full list of undertakers was
- Anglian Water
Anglian Water is a privatised water company that operates in the East of England. Named for East Anglia, apart from Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire it also covers Lincolnshire, Essex, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Northamptonshire, a small part of north Nottinghamshire and Greater London...
Services Ltd
- Northumbrian Water
Northumbrian Water Group plc is the holding company for several companies in the water supply, sewerage and waste water industries. NWG's largest subsidiary is Northumbrian Water Limited , which is one of ten companies in England and Wales that are regulated water supply and sewerage utilities...
Ltd
- Severn Trent Water Ltd
- Southern Water
Southern Water is the utility responsible for wastewater collection and treatment in Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, West Sussex, East Sussex and Kent, and for water supply and distribution in the approximately half of this area...
Services Ltd
- South West Water
South West Water provides drinking water and waste water services throughout Cornwall and Devon and in small areas of Dorset and Somerset. South West Water came into being in 1989 with the privatisation of the water industry...
Ltd
- Thames Water
Thames Water Utilities Ltd, known as Thames Water, is the private utility company responsible for the public water supply and waste water treatment in large parts of Greater London, the Thames Valley, Surrey, Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Kent, and some other areas of in the United Kingdom...
Utilities Ltd
- United Utilities
United Utilities Group PLC is the UK's largest listed water business. The Group owns and manages the regulated water and waste water network in the north west England, through it subsidiary United Utilities Water PLC , which is responsible for the vast majority of the group's assets and...
Water PLC [formerly North West Water Ltd]
- Welsh Water
Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water is a company which supplies drinking water and wastewater services to most of Wales and parts of western England.It is regulated under the Water Industry Act 1991.-History:...
- Dwr Cymru Cyfyngedig
- Wessex Water
Wessex Water Services Limited, known as Wessex Water, is a water supply and sewerage utility company serving an area of the south west of England, covering 10,000 square kilometres including Dorset, Somerset, Bristol, most of Wiltshire and parts of Gloucestershire and Hampshire...
Services Ltd
- Yorkshire Water
Yorkshire Water is a water supply and treatment utility company servicing West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, the East Riding of Yorkshire, part of North Lincolnshire, most of North Yorkshire and part of Derbyshire, in England. The company has its origins in the Yorkshire Water Authority, one of ten...
Services Ltd
- Water only undertakers
- Bournemouth and West Hampshire Water Plc 1 April 2005
- Bristol Water
Bristol Water supplies 300 million litres of drinking water to over 1 million customers in a area centred on Bristol, England. It is regulated under the Water Industry Act 1991...
plc 1 April 2005
- Cambridge Water plc 1 April 2005
- Cholderton and District Water Company Ltd 1 April 2005
- Dee Valley Water plc 1 April 2005
- Folkestone and Dover Water Services Ltd 1 April 2005
- Mid Kent Water Ltd 26 August 2005
- Portsmouth Water Ltd 1 April 2005
- South East Water Ltd 1 April 2005
- South Staffordshire Water plc 30 September 2005
- Sutton and East Surrey Water plc 1 April 2005
- Tendring Hundred Water Services Ltd 1 April 2005
- Three Valleys Water Services plc
Part 3 Water Supply
Part 3 Imposes a duty to maintain an efficient and economical water supply system and proscribes minimum standards of performance in connection with water supply.
Standards of wholesomeness
Clause 67 of the act allows the Secretary of State to proscribe Standards of
wholesomeness for water; prescribing the purposes for which the water is to be suitable; substances that are to be present or absent and the concentrations.
External links