Welsh Water
Encyclopedia
Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water is a company which supplies drinking water and wastewater
Wastewater
Wastewater 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 to most of Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

 and parts of western England.

It is regulated under the Water Industry Act 1991
Water Industry Act 1991
The Water Industry Act 1991 is an Act of the United Kingdom Parliament consolidating previous enactments relating to the water supply and the provision of wastewater services in England and Wales. It further implemented recommendations of the Law Commission.-Sections:Part 1 deals with the...

.

History

Welsh Water originated from the privatisation of the Welsh Water Authority which itself had its origins in the Welsh National Water Development Authority that was created by the 1973 restructuring
Water Act 1973
The Water Act 1973 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reorganised the water, sewage and river management industry in England and Wales...

 of the water industry in England and Wales. It took over the following public sector undertakings:
  • South West Wales River Authority
  • Usk River Authority
  • Wye River Authority
  • Glamorgan River Authority
  • Gwynedd River Authority
  • Dee and Clwyd River Authority
  • Bwrdd Dŵr Eryri
  • Cardiganshire Water Board
  • Central Flintshire Water Board
  • Conway Valley Water Board
  • Gwent Water Board
  • Herefordshire Water Board
  • Llanelli and District Water Board
  • Loughor Joint Water Board
  • Merioneth Water Board
  • Mid-Glamorgan Water Board
  • Pembrokeshire Water Board
  • Radnorshire and North Breconshire Water Board
  • South-East Breconshire Water Board
  • Taf Fechan Water Board
  • West Denbighshire and West Flintshire Water Board
  • West Glamorgan Water Board


It also took over the water undertaking, sewerage and sewage disposal responsibilities of the following local authorities:
  • Anglesey County Council
  • Cardiff County Borough Council
  • Carmarthen Borough Council
  • Carmarthen Rural District Council
  • Ceiriog Rural District Council (within catchment area of the River Dee)
  • Cwmamman Urban District Council
  • Llandeilo Urban District Council
  • Llandeilo Rural District Council
  • Llandovery Borough Council
  • Maelor Rural District Council
  • Wrexham Rural District Council


Welsh Water Authority was privatised by stock market flotation in 1989, along with the other nine regional water authorities, which provided the company with a substantial cash surplus for some years, which it used to diversify in a wide range of sectors including leisure (Hotels, Fishing etc.). It renamed itself Hyder
Hyder
Hyder can refer to:*Hyder, Alaska, a town in the United States*Hyder , a former UK utility infrastructure company*Hyder Consulting, a current infrastructure company, former subsidiary of Hyder*the Arabic name Haydar...

 in 1996 after taking over a local electricity company (SWALEC
SWALEC
SWALEC was an electricity supply and distribution company which was bought out in 1996 for £872m following the de-regulation of the electricity supply industry in the UK....

) and becoming a water and electricity multi-utility
Multi-utility
Multi-utility relates to companies offering a wide range of services and/or products. In the business market, this type of service provision usually relates to energy, environmental services, waste issues, infrastructure and/or telecom services...

.

However, in 1999/2000, following the Windfall Tax
Windfall Tax (United Kingdom)
The Windfall Tax was a tax on what were claimed to be "the excess profits of the privatised utilities" , introduced by the Labour government in 1997. It followed from their manifesto commitment made during the 1997 general election campaign to impose a "windfall levy" on the privatised utilities...

 on utility profits and the 1999 Ofwat price review, Hyder got into financial difficulties which led to its breakup following a takeover battle. Western Power Distribution
Western Power Distribution
Western Power Distribution is the trading identity of four electricity distribution companies - WPD South West , WPD South Wales and WPD Midlands...

 purchased Hyder on 15 September 2000 with a view to acquiring its electricity distribution business, and rapidly sold off Hyder's other assets. Welsh Water was sold by WPD to Glas Cymru, a company especially set up to own DCWW for the public benefit, for £1, along with £1.85 billion of Hyder debt http://www.dwrcymru.com/Glascymrusite/English/archive/pressreleases/_pdf/TopDealAwards_PR.pdf. Under the terms of its licence Glas Cymru may not operate in sectors other than water.

The current business

Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water is owned by Glas Cymru, a company limited by guarantee
Company limited by guarantee
In British and Irish company law, a private company limited by guarantee is an alternative type of corporation used primarily for non-profit organisations that require legal personality. A guarantee company does not usually have a share capital or shareholders, but instead has members who act as...

.

Coverage

In general it provides services and operates across Wales from the catchments of the River Dee
River Dee, Wales
The River Dee is a long river in the United Kingdom. It travels through Wales and England and also forms part of the border between the two countries....

, River Clwyd
River Clwyd
The River Clwyd is a river in North Wales which rises in the Clocaenog Forest northwest of Corwen.It flows due south until at Melin-y-Wig it veers northeastwards, tracking the A494 to Ruthin. Here it leaves the relatively narrow valley and enters a broad agricultural vale, the Vale of Clwyd...

 in the north, round to the River Usk
River Usk
The River Usk rises on the northern slopes of the Black Mountain of mid-Wales, in the easternmost part of the Brecon Beacons National Park. Initially it flows north into Usk Reservoir, then east by Sennybridge to Brecon before turning southeast to flow by Talybont-on-Usk, Crickhowell and...

 and River Wye
River Wye
The River Wye is the fifth-longest river in the UK and for parts of its length forms part of the border between England and Wales. It is important for nature conservation and recreation.-Description:...

 in the south and everything to the west of these catchments. This means that it includes part of the Wirral and Cheshire
Cheshire
Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...

, and also parts of Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....

, and Herefordshire
Herefordshire
Herefordshire is a historic and ceremonial county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire" NUTS 2 region. It also forms a unitary district known as the...

, particularly Hereford
Hereford
Hereford is a cathedral city, civil parish and county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, southwest of Worcester, and northwest of Gloucester...

. It excludes the area of Wales drained by the River Severn
River Severn
The River Severn is the longest river in Great Britain, at about , but the second longest on the British Isles, behind the River Shannon. It rises at an altitude of on Plynlimon, Ceredigion near Llanidloes, Powys, in the Cambrian Mountains of mid Wales...

, which is instead served by Severn Trent
Severn Trent
Severn Trent plc is a British public utility. It is traded on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.Severn Trent is a group of companies employing more than 15,000 people across the UK, US and mainland Europe, with some involvement in the Middle East.The main...

. It also excludes those areas supplied by private water utilities such as Dee Valley Water
Dee Valley Water
Dee Valley Water / Dŵr Dyffryn Dyfrdwy is a company which supplies drinking water services to parts of North East Wales and parts of North West England...

which operates in the River Dee catchment supplying the Chester and Wrexham areas with water.

External links

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