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20-720: Severn Trent plc is a water company based in Coventry , England. It supplies 4.6 million households and business across the Midlands and Wales. It is traded on the London Stock Exchange and a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index . Severn Trent , the trading name owned by the company, applies to a group of companies operating across the United Kingdom, United States and mainland Europe , with some involvement in

40-563: A "do not use" notice due to high levels of chlorine detected in the water supply, leaving thousands of households without a clean, reliable water supply. On 20 February 2024, Severn Trent Water was fined over £2 million for discharging more than 260 million litres of raw sewage into the River Trent from its Strongford Treatment Works, an incident that occurred between November 2019 and February 2020 but avoided catastrophic pollution due to high river flows from storms. The company operates

60-660: A board, plus an office of staff which carries out work delegated to them by the board. The Environment Agency is responsible for environmental regulation, and the Drinking Water Inspectorate for regulating drinking water quality. Water in Northern Ireland is regulated by the Northern Ireland Authority for Utility Regulation, and the supply and treatment is carried out by the government-owned Northern Ireland Water . There

80-436: A number of reservoirs , many of which are accessible for recreational use. These include: Water company The water industry includes water engineering , operations, water and wastewater plant construction, equipment supply and specialist water treatment chemicals, among others. The water industry is at the service of other industries, e.g. of the food sector which produces beverages such as bottled water. There are

100-489: A responsibility to supply freshwater and treat sewage for around 8 million people living in the Midlands of England and also a small area of Wales. In May 1991, it went on to acquire Biffa , a waste management business. In October 2006, Biffa was de merged from the group Severn Trent, and was subsequently listed separately on the London Stock Exchange . In January 2007, the American side of Severn Trent Laboratories

120-765: A variety of organizational structures for the water industry, with countries usually having one dominant traditional structure, which usually changes only gradually over time. Water quality standards and environmental standards relating to wastewater are usually set by national bodies. Using available data only, and during 2009 - 2010, the ten largest water companies active globally were (largest first) : Veolia Environnement (France), Suez Environnement (France), ITT Corporation (US), United Utilities (UK), Severn Trent (UK), Thames Water (UK), American Water Works Company (US), GE Water (US), Kurita Water Industries (Japan), Nalco Water (US). Ofwat The Water Services Regulation Authority , or Ofwat ,

140-575: Is no longer used, as it had no legal basis. The current chairman is Iain Coucher , who took up his position in July 2022, replacing Johnson Cox who had held the position since November 2012. Initially taking over from Rachel Fletcher as interim chief executive in April 2021, the current chief executive is David Black who was fully appointed to the role in April 2022. Every five years, Ofwat set limits on

160-590: Is no separate charge for water for residents or companies in Northern Ireland. Instead, water is paid for by the rates system. The water industry regulator in Scotland is the Water Industry Commission for Scotland . Ofwat was set up in 1988, at the same time as 10 water authorities in England and Wales were privatised by flotation on the stock market. Its duties and powers are defined by

180-672: Is the body responsible for economic regulation of the privatised water and sewerage industry in England and Wales . Ofwat's main statutory duties include protecting the interests of consumers, securing the long-term resilience of water supply and wastewater systems , and ensuring that companies carry out their functions and are able to finance them. Ofwat primarily sets limits on the prices charged for water and sewerage services, taking into account proposed capital investment schemes (such as building new wastewater treatment works) and expected operational efficiency gains. The most recent review

200-913: Is the new custom built Severn Trent Centre in Coventry. In July 2007, the Mythe Water Treatment Works near Tewkesbury became inundated with water from the River Severn during the Summer 2007 United Kingdom floods . The water coming into the plant was contaminated, and this led to the loss of all running water for approximately 150,000 people in Cheltenham , Gloucester and Tewkesbury . In July 2008, OFWAT confirmed that it had fined Severn Trent Water £35.8 million for deliberately providing false information to Ofwat and for delivering poor service to its customers. In July 2008,

220-733: The Middle East . It took its name from the two predecessor River Authorities , which managed the catchment of the Severn and the Trent . The Severn Trent Water Authority was established in 1974. In July 1989, the Severn Trent Water Authority was partially privatised under the Water Act 1989 , together with the rest of the water supply and sewage disposal industry in England and Wales, to form Severn Trent Water, with

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240-539: The Water Industry Act 1991 . The resulting companies are known as "water and sewerage companies"; this distinguishes them from around a dozen smaller companies which only provide water services, which were already in private hands in 1989 (having remained in private ownership since their creation in the 19th century). The water-only companies provide water to around 25% of the population in England and Wales. Before 1 April 2006, all regulatory powers rested with

260-544: The Dee Valley company) took on all Severn Trent Water's water supply and wastewater operations in Wales, and the small area of the former Dee Valley operation within England (an exclave at Chester ) became part of Severn Trent Water. The main companies in the group are Severn Trent Water, Hafren Dyfrdwy and Severn Trent Services. Severn Trent Laboratories was rebranded as part of Severn Trent Services in 2010, to streamline

280-615: The Director General of Water Services. The staff who supported the role of the Director General were collectively known as the "Office of Water Services", which was abbreviated to "Ofwat". Ian Byatt was the Director General between 1989 and 2000; Philip Fletcher was Director General until 2006 and chairman until 2012. On 1 April 2006, the Director General was replaced by the Water Services Regulation Authority. The name "Office of Water Services"

300-634: The company and give it a single worldwide image, rather than a series of separate organisations with different identities. As with all water companies in the United Kingdom, Severn Trent is regulated under the Water Industry Act 1991 . As of 2021, the company supplies about 4.6 million households and businesses in its area, rising from 3.7 million in 2008. Severn Trent Water has a call centre in Coventry, dealing with operational emergencies and billing enquiries, and two other call centres in Derby and Shrewsbury, which deal solely with billing enquiries. Its head office

320-465: The company was fined £2m (reduced from a previous judgement of £4m) for poor information reporting and covering up misleading leakage data. Despite improvements, according to Ofwat , the percentage of leakages from 2010 to 2011 was the highest in England and Wales, at 27%, representing 0.5 billion litres (500,000 tonnes ) per day. On 11 March 2016, Severn Trent customers in Derbyshire were issued

340-406: The prices which water companies in England and Wales can charge to their customers; this process is known as a price review or periodic review. Ofwat has carried out six price reviews so far – in 1994 (PR94), 1999 (PR99), 2004 (PR04), 2009 (PR09), 2014 (PR14) and 2019 (PR19). The most recent, PR19, set price limits for 2020–2025. Ofwat sets a so-called "K factor" in companies' licences which determine

360-458: The water market deregulation, to provide the retail services for their non household customers, after being granted approval by the Competition & Markets Authority . In 2017 Severn Trent plc acquired Dee Valley Water, a water-only company with an area adjoining Severn Trent Water's own. In 2018 the areas of the two operating companies were adjusted so that Hafren Dyfrdwy (the new name for

380-512: Was carried out in 2019; reviews are carried out every five years, with the next due to take place in December 2024. The Water Act 2014 extended retail competition to all non-household customers of English water companies from April 2017 and provided for possible future competition in wholesale markets. Ofwat's role includes regulating such water and wastewater markets and promoting effective competition wherever appropriate. Ofwat consists of

400-570: Was sold to HIG Capital . In 1993 the company acquired East Worcester Water plc, a former statutory water company whose area was surrounded by Severn Trent's existing water supply area, and the operations were merged. In September 2007, the company announced they would be closing its headquarters in Birmingham and relocating to a custom built office complex in the centre of Coventry in the autumn of 2010. In June 2016, Severn Trent Water and United Utilities formed Water Plus in preparation for

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