Severn Trent Water Authority was one of ten regional water authorities established in 1974. Its area of operation was the catchments of the

River Trent The Trent is the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, third-longest river in the United Kingdom. Its Source (river or stream), source is in Staffordshire, on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor. It flows through and drains the North Midland ...

and

River Severn , name_etymology = , image = SevernFromCastleCB.JPG , image_size = 288 , image_caption = The river seen from Shrewsbury Castle , map = RiverSevernMap.jpg , map_size = 288 , map_c ...

. It assumed the powers and responsibilities of existing water supply authorities in those catchment areas, the Severn River Authority, the

Trent River Authority The Trent River Authority was one of 27 river authorities created by the Water Resources Act 1963 (1963 C. 38). It took over the powers of the existing Trent River Board and was given additional duties to monitor water quality and protect water ...

and the sewage and sewage disposal responsibilities of the councils within its area. It took its name from the two major rivers in this area, the

Severn , name_etymology = , image = SevernFromCastleCB.JPG , image_size = 288 , image_caption = The river seen from Shrewsbury Castle , map = RiverSevernMap.jpg , map_size = 288 , map_c ...

and the

Trent Trent may refer to: Places Italy * Trento in northern Italy, site of the Council of Trent United Kingdom * Trent, Dorset, England, United Kingdom Germany * Trent, Germany, a municipality on the island of Rügen United States * Trent, California, ...

. In July 1989, the authority was partly privatised under the

Water Act 1989 The Water Act 1989 (1989 c.15) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reorganised the bodies responsible for all aspects of water within England and Wales. Whereas previous legislation, particularly the Water Act 1973, had focuse ...

, together with most of the rest of the water supply and sewage disposal industry in England and Wales, to form Severn Trent Water, with a responsibility to supply freshwater and treat

sewage Sewage (or domestic sewage, domestic wastewater, municipal wastewater) is a type of wastewater that is produced by a community of people. It is typically transported through a sewer system. Sewage consists of wastewater discharged from residenc ...

for around 8 million people living in the

Midlands The Midlands (also referred to as Central England) are a part of England that broadly correspond to the Kingdom of Mercia of the Early Middle Ages, bordered by Wales, Northern England and Southern England. The Midlands were important in the Ind ...

of England and also a small area of Wales. The remaining regulatory and control functions such as

pollution control Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, the ...

flood prevention Flood control methods are used to reduce or prevent the detrimental effects of flood waters."Flood Control", MSN Encarta, 2008 (see below: #Further reading, Further reading). Flood relief methods are used to reduce the effects of flood waters or ...

and water resource management were subsumed into the newly formed

National Rivers Authority The National Rivers Authority (NRA) was one of the forerunners of the Environment Agency of England and Wales, existing between 1989 and 1996. Before 1989 the regulation of the aquatic environment had largely been carried out by the ten region ...

Statutory water undertakers acquired

It took over the following public-sector statutory water undertakers: *

Birmingham Corporation Water Department The Birmingham Corporation Water Department was responsible for the supply of water to Birmingham, England, from 1876 to 1974. It was also known as Birmingham Corporation Waterworks Department. Early History 1808 - 1876 The earliest formal supp ...

*the water supply department of Coventry Corporation *the water supply department of

Leicester Corporation Leicester City Council is a unitary authority responsible for local government in the city of Leicester, England. It consists of 54 councillors, representing 22 wards in the city, overseen by a directly elected mayor. It is currently contro ...

City of Nottingham Water Department The City of Nottingham Water Department (1912–1974), formerly the Nottingham Corporation Water Department (1880–1912), was responsible for the supply of water to Nottingham from 1880 to 1974. The first water supply company in the town was the ...

*the water supply department of Stafford Corporation *the water supply department of Wolverhampton Corporation *the water supply department of Cannock Rural District Council *Central Nottinghamshire Water Board *East Shropshire Water Board *Montgomeryshire Water Board *North Derbyshire Water Board *North East Warwickshire Water Board *North West Gloucestershire Water Board *North West Leicestershire Water Board *North West Worcestershire Water Board *Rugby Joint Water Board *South Derbyshire Water Board *South Warwickshire Water Board *South West Worcestershire Water Board *Staffordshire Potteries Water Board *West Shropshire Water Board Section 12 of the

Water Act 1973 The Water Act 1973 (1973 c.37) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reorganised the water, sewage and river management industry in England and Wales. Water supply and sewage disposal were removed from local authority control, ...

stated that “where the area of a water authority includes the whole or part of the limits of supply of a statutory water company, the authority shall discharge their duties with respect to the supply of water within those limits through the company.” The following two private statutory water companies continued to supply water as before within their limits as supply but only as "agents" of the water authority: *East Worcestershire Waterworks Company – from 1 September 1993, the water undertaking of this company was transferred to Severn Trent as per The East Worcester and Severn Trent Water (Amendment of Local Enactments etc.) Order 1993 (S.I. 1993 No. 2130) * South Staffordshire Waterworks Company The water authority remained responsible for sewerage and sewage disposal within the limits of supply of these two companies.

Other organisations and functions acquired

The water authority took over the following public-sector bulk water suppliers: *

Derwent Valley Water Board The Derwent Valley Water Board was constituted by Act of Parliament in 1899 to supply the cities of Derby, Leicester, Nottingham and Sheffield, and the county of Derbyshire, with water impounded by a series of reservoirs along the upper reaches ...

*River Dove Water Board It took over the following main drainage authorities, which were joint boards set up to deal with the main sewerage and sewage treatment in their respective areas: *Upper Tame Main Drainage Authority *Upper Stour Main Drainage Authority It took over two river authorities, responsible for control of water pollution, water resource management and flood prevention: *

* Severn Trent River Authority The authority also took over the functions responsible for sewerage and sewage disposal from all local authorities, including main drainage authorities, within its area; however, section 15 of the

allowed district (but not county) councils to enter into agency agreements with water authorities whereby the district councils became their "agents" for the maintenance and design and construction of new sewers.

Reservoirs

The company abstracted water from a number of

reservoirs A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including control ...

. These included: * Carsington Reservoir – River Derwent compensation flow pumped storage facility *

Upper Derwent Valley The Upper Derwent Valley is an area of the Peak District National Park in England. It largely lies in Derbyshire, but its north eastern area lies in Sheffield, South Yorkshire. Its most significant features are the Derwent Dams, Ladybower, Derwent ...

( Derwent,

Howden Howden () is a market and minster town and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies in the Vale of York to the north of the M62, on the A614 road about south-east of York and north of Goole, which lies across the Ri ...

and

Ladybower Reservoir Ladybower Reservoir is a large Y-shaped, artificial reservoir, the lowest of three in the Upper Derwent Valley in Derbyshire, England. The River Ashop flows into the reservoir from the west; the River Derwent flows south, initially through Ho ...

s) – Built by the Derwent Valley Water Board to supply the cities of

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

and

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

Draycote Water Draycote Water is a reservoir and country park near the village of Dunchurch, south of Rugby in Warwickshire, England, owned and operated by Severn Trent Water. It draws its water from the River Leam, and supplies drinking water to Rugby and ...

Foremark Reservoir Foremark Reservoir ( OS grid reference ) is a reservoir in South Derbyshire owned by Severn Trent which is also a nature reserve open to the public for walking, fishing, bird watching and horse riding. Severn Trent are working together with the ...

* Shustoke Reservoir * Tittesworth reservoir *

Ogston Reservoir Ogston Reservoir is a reservoir operated by Severn Trent Water in Derbyshire. It is near the villages of Brackenfield and Ashover and the town of Clay Cross. The reservoir takes its water from the River Amber and was originally created to suppl ...

, in the

Amber Valley Amber Valley is a local government district and borough in the east of Derbyshire, England, taking its name from the River Amber. It covers a semi-rural zone with four main towns whose economy was based on coal mining and remains to some extent ...

* Linacre Reservoirs (non operational since 1995) It also operated the filtration works at the

Elan Valley Reservoirs The Elan Valley Reservoirs are a chain of man-made lakes created from damming the Elan and Claerwen rivers within the Elan Valley in Mid Wales. The reservoirs, which were built by the Birmingham Corporation Water Department, provide clean dri ...

It also had abstraction licences for river abstractions which included operating rules linked to storage at both

Clywedog reservoir The Clywedog Reservoir ( cy, Llyn Clywedog) is a reservoir near Llanidloes, Wales on the head-waters of the River Severn. The construction of the reservoir was enabled by an Act of Parliament which asserted that ''"At certain times the flow of w ...

and

Lake Vyrnwy , image = Lakevyrnwysummer.jpg , caption = View overlooking Lake Vyrnwy showing the full extent of the lake , image_bathymetry = , pushpin_map=Wales Powys , caption_bathymetry = , location = Wales , c ...

although no water from those reservoirs was directly piped to supply.

References

{{Authority control Renewable resource companies established in 1974 Water companies of England Water supply in Birmingham, West Midlands

Statutory water undertakers acquired

Other organisations and functions acquired

Reservoirs

See also

References