Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water is a not-for-profit company which supplies drinking water and wastewater services to most of Wales and parts of western England that border Wales. In total, it serves around 1.4 million households and businesses and over three million people - and supplies nearly 830 million litres of drinking water per day.
18-713: It is regulated under the Water Industry Act 1991 as amended by the Water Act 2014. Welsh Water originated from the privatisation in 1989 of water supply and waste water arms of the Welsh Water Authority which itself had its origins in the Welsh National Water Development Authority that was created by the 1973 restructuring of the water industry in England and Wales. Welsh Water Authority
36-454: A company set up by Nigel Annett and Chris Jones with the support of the company's first chairman Lord Burns to run the company for public benefit. Under the terms of its licence, Glas Cymru, a company limited by guarantee , may not operate in sectors other than water. Measured by turnover, Welsh Water is the fifth-largest company based in Wales and employs more than 3,500 people. Its asset base
54-471: A £14.9 million voluntary redress payment after an investigation by industry regulator Ofgem found shortfalls in the company's implementation of its obligations to vulnerable customers. Western Power Distribution was a subsidiary of PPL for many years. In August 2020, PPL announced an intention to sell WPD. In March 2021, PPL announced a swap with National Grid in which it divested WPD and acquired Narragansett Electric of Rhode Island. The acquisition
72-633: 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 . The Act is divided into eight parts and a further 15 Schedules are attached Notable schedule within the act include 4 Customer Service Committees; 5 Pressure and Constancy of Supply; 6 Rights of Entry; 9 & 12 Compensation Provisions. As of 1 April 2005
90-512: Is reinvested back into the business or into customer services, or to reduce customer bills. To date, around £450 million has been reinvested in such ways. Welsh Water owns more than 90 dams and reservoirs across its areas of operation - including a number of flagship visitor attractions. These generally provide access to the reservoir and surrounding land, but also provide visitor centres, leisure facilities, walking routes, and cafes. Their main visitor attraction sites are: In January 2016, following
108-686: Is valued at more than £26 billion - and includes: In general, it provides services and operates across Wales from the catchments of the River Dee , River Clwyd in the north, round to the River Usk and River Wye in the south, and everything to the west of these catchments. This means that it includes part of the Wirral and Cheshire , and also parts of Gloucestershire , and Herefordshire , particularly Hereford . It excludes those areas supplied by private water utilities such as Hafren Dyfrdwy which operates in
126-507: The East Midlands and West Midlands ). Each company was the distribution network operator for its respective region. Western Power Distribution, which had headquarters in Bristol , served approximately 7.7 million customers in its combined distribution areas. In 2022 the company was absorbed into its new parent company, National Grid . In 1998, WPD South West was formed from the demerger of
144-493: The Windfall Tax 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 purchased Hyder on 15 September 2000 with a view to acquiring its electricity distribution business, and rapidly sold off Hyder's other assets. Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water was sold, along with £1.85 billion of Hyder debt, for £1 by WPD to Glas Cymru,
162-568: The River Dee catchment supplying parts of north east and mid Wales. Hafren Dyfrdwy was formed from parts of the Dee Valley Water business, which is now a subsidiary of Severn Trent plc, and runs its operations in Wales. It also excludes any area of Wales drained by the River Severn , which are currently served by Hafren Dyfrdwy, after Severn Trent combined all of its coverage areas in Wales with
180-526: The Welsh parts of Dee Valley Water, following its takeover of that company. In 2001, Welsh Water became a not-for-profit organisation with no shareholders. This differentiates it from all the water companies operating in England which are run for the financial benefit of the private entities that own, with capital regularly removed as dividend, as well as from the organisational status of water utilities in Scotland and
198-402: The company has the strongest credit ratings among the England and Wales-based water and sewerage companies Water industry. When it was established as a not-for-profit company, Welsh Water had a gearing level (the ratio of net debt to Regulatory Capital Value) of around 93%. The company has reduced this level to 58% in 2021–2022. Part of Welsh Water's not-for-profit model means any surplus money
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#1732876764710216-639: The concentrations. Part 4 deals with sewers. Under Section 104 a developer can build sewers and agree that the water company will adopt them later. Western Power Distribution Western Power Distribution is a trade name formerly used by four electricity distribution companies in the United Kingdom: WPD South West (operating in South West England ), WPD South Wales (in South Wales ) and WPD Midlands (two companies, in
234-570: The electricity distribution arm of SWEB . In September 2000, the American energy company PPL Corporation purchased Hyder for £565m and sold Welsh Water and other interests, leaving the electricity distribution arm Infralec which was renamed WPD South Wales. In April 2011, PPL purchased Central Networks (the distribution network operator for the East and West Midlands) from E.ON for £3.5 billion and rebranded it as WPD Midlands. In May 2022, WPD made
252-469: The full list of undertakers was 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. 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
270-571: The pre-privatisation water supply undertakings in England, which are or were directly accountable to the government. Under Glas Cymru's ownership, the company's assets and capital investment are financed by bonds and retained financial surpluses. The Glas Cymru business model aims to reduce Welsh Water's asset financing cost, the water industry ’s single biggest cost. Financing efficiency savings to date have largely been used to build up reserves to insulate Welsh Water and its customers from any unexpected costs and also to improve credit quality. As of 2019,
288-598: The re-development of Llanishen reservoir, and its adjacent Lisvane reservoir, in the north of Cardiff in November 2020. If accepted, the redevelopment would include the construction of a visitor centre, watersports centre, biodiversity facilities, and education hub. In March 2024 industry regulator Ofwat ordered Welsh Water to pay £40m upon concluding that the firm had "misled customers and regulators on its performance on leakage and per capita consumption". Water Industry Act 1991 The Water Industry Act 1991 (c. 56)
306-473: The scrapping of Western Power Distribution plans to redevelop Llanishen Reservoir for housing, Welsh Water acquired Llanishen and Lisvane Reservoir from steel company CELSA Group on a 999-year lease, which allows the company to use them for water supply and recreational purposes while also allowing CELSA to continue to take its water supply from the Lisvane Reservoir. It has also submitted plans for
324-454: 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 in 1996 after taking over a local electricity company ( SWALEC ) and becoming a water and electricity multi-utility . However, in 1999/2000, following
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