Anglian Water Authority was formed in 1974 by virtue 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, ...

as one of the regional water authorities. It established its headquarters in

Huntingdon Huntingdon is a market town in the Huntingdonshire district in Cambridgeshire, England. The town was given its town charter by John, King of England, King John in 1205. It was the county town of the historic county of Huntingdonshire. Oliver Cr ...

in Cambridgeshire. The authority boundary was the pre-existing boundaries of the constituent river authorities whose total area made Anglian Water Authority the largest of the ten newly created Authorities. It subsumed the roles and responsibilities of: * East Suffolk and Norfolk River Authority * Essex River Authority (except the part of the area of the Essex River Authority which was included in the area of the

Thames Water Authority The Thames Water Authority was one of ten regional water authorities created in the UK on 1 April 1974 under the provisions of the Water Act 1973 to bring together all the water management functions of the region in one public body. Predece ...

) * Great Ouse River Authority * Lincolnshire River Authority * Welland and Nene River Authority It also took over

sewage treatment Sewage treatment (or domestic wastewater treatment, municipal wastewater treatment) is a type of wastewater treatment which aims to remove contaminants from sewage to produce an effluent that is suitable for discharge to the surrounding en ...

and

sewerage Sewerage (or sewage system) is the infrastructure that conveys sewage or surface runoff (stormwater, meltwater, rainwater) using sewers. It encompasses components such as receiving drainage, drains, manholes, pumping stations, storm overflows, a ...

responsibilities of all the local authorities in the area with the exception of: *

Dunstable Dunstable ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England, east of the Chiltern Hills, north of London. There are several steep chalk escarpments, most noticeable when approaching Dunstable from the north. Dunstable is t ...

* Gainsborough * Glanford Brigg *

Houghton Regis Houghton Regis is a market town and civil parish in Bedfordshire, East of England. The parish is located in Central Bedfordshire, which includes the hamlets of Bidwell, Thorn, and Sewell. Houghton Regis, along with its contiguous neighbour ...

Thurrock Thurrock () is a unitary authority area with borough status and unparished area in the ceremonial county of Essex, England. It is part of the London commuter belt and an area of regeneration within the Thames Gateway redevelopment zone. The ...

It also became responsible for the water supply functions previously exercised by the following: *

Ipswich Corporation The Ipswich Corporation was a historic local government that owned property and governed in Ipswich, Suffolk. Since its foundation in 1200, the corporation has kept often highly detailed accounts of their operation. A great deal of these survive t ...

* Buckingham Corporation * Norwich Corporation * Bedfordshire Water Board * Bucks Water Board * Colchester and District Water Board * East Lincolnshire Water Board * Ely, Mildenhall and Newmarket Water Board * Higham Ferrers and Rushden Water Board * Kesteven Water Board * Lincoln and District Water Board * Mid-Northamptonshire Water Board * Nene and Ouse Water Board * North East Lincolnshire Water Board * North Lindsey Water Board * North West Norfolk Water Board * Peterborough Corporation Water WorksWater works at Elton
Hidden Heritage (retrieved 19 December 2009) * South Lincolnshire Water Board * South Norfolk Water Board * West Suffolk Water Board * Wisbech and District Water Board * Cambridge Water Company * East Anglian Water Company * Tendring Hundred Waterworks Company

Demise

In 1989, the privatisation of the

water industry The water industry provides drinking water and wastewater services (including sewage treatment) to residential, commercial, and industrial sectors of the economy. Typically public utilities operate water supply networks. The water industry doe ...

in England and Wales saw the creation of

Anglian Water Anglian Water is a water company that operates in the East of England. It was formed in 1989 under the partial privatisation of the water industry. It provides water supply, sewerage and sewage treatment to the area formerly the responsibility ...

who took over the water treatment and supply and sewerage and sewage disposal functions. All the remaining regulatory functions including flood control, water quality management, pollution control and water resource management were transferred to the newly created

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 regio ...

, which was subsequently subsumed into the new

Environment Agency The Environment Agency (EA) is a non-departmental public body, established in 1996 and sponsored by the United Kingdom government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with responsibilities relating to the protection and en ...

in 1996.

References

{{reflist Water supply and sanitation in England Water management authorities in the United Kingdom Public utilities established in 1974 Government agencies disestablished in 1989 1974 establishments in England 1989 disestablishments in England