Scottish Water is a statutory corporation that provides

water Water (chemical formula ) is an Inorganic compound, inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living ...

and sewerage services across Scotland. It is accountable to the public through the Scottish Government.

Operations

Scottish Water provides drinking water to 2.46 million households and 150,000 business customers in Scotland. Every day it supplies 1.34 billion litres of drinking water and takes away 847 million litres of waste water from customers' properties and treats it before returning it to the environment.

Regulated Services

Scottish Water operates under a regulatory framework established by the

Water Services etc. (Scotland) Act 2005 Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as a s ...

allowing an economic regulator, the

Water Industry Commission for Scotland The Water Industry Commission for Scotland (WICS) is the economic regulator of the water and sewerage industry in Scotland. Established in 2005, it is an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government with statutory responsibi ...

, to set the cost of the service independently. The Water Industry Commission for Scotland establishes the "lowest overall reasonable cost" through a benchmarking exercise with private water companies operating in England and Wales. Scottish Water has a right of appeal against this price setting process through a reference to the UK

Competition Commission The Competition Commission was a non-departmental public body responsible for investigating mergers, markets and other enquiries related to regulated industries under competition law in the United Kingdom. It was a competition regulator under t ...

. In 2013-2014 the charge for an average household bill was around £334. The Drinking Water Quality Regulator for Scotland and the

Scottish Environment Protection Agency The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA; gd, Buidheann Dìon Àrainneachd na h-Alba) is Scotland's environmental regulator and national flood forecasting, flood warning and strategic flood risk management authority.Scottish Public Services Ombudsman The Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) is the organisation that handles complaints about public services in Scotland. The Ombudsman service is independent of government and with a duty to act impartially. The SPSO is responsible for lookin ...

represents the interest of Scottish Water's customers and has powers to investigate complaints.

Water quality

Scottish Water is benchmarked against the performance of water companies in England and Wales. In the year 2014–2015 they reported outcomes that were comparable with recent performance by leading water companies in England and Wales, as well undertaking a major investment programme. In 2021, it was revealed that untreated sewage was discharged by Scottish Water into Scotland's rivers and lochs more than 12,000 times in a single year, through combined sewage outflows. It emerged that the regulator, SEPA, estimated that there were 645 'unsatisfactory' outflows, and that Scottish Government officials viewed Scotland as being 'way behind' England in dealing with the problem.

History

The authority was founded in 2002 by a merger of West of Scotland Water Authority, East of Scotland Water Authority and North of Scotland Water Authority under the Water Industry (Scotland) Act 2002, an

Act of the Scottish Parliament An Act of the Scottish Parliament ( gd, Achd Pàrlamaid na h-Alba) is primary legislation made by the Scottish Parliament. The power to create Acts was conferred to the Parliament by section 28 of the Scotland Act 1998 following the success ...

. Because 100 percent of it is owned by the Scottish Government it is considered a statutory corporation. It has a headquarters in Dunfermline and offices in

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

, Dundee,

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

and Inverness. 3,600 people are employed across the organisation. It has an annual turnover of around £1bn and is funded by charges paid by its customers. Part of its long term capital expenditure is funded by long term loans from the Scottish Government. National policy is determined by the Scottish Government, to whom the authority reports. The Scottish Government has consulted as to how Scottish Water can work together with

Scottish Canals Scottish Canals is the Scottish Government body responsible for managing the country's inland waterways. Formerly a division of British Waterways, it became a stand-alone executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government on 2 J ...

and

Caledonian Maritime Assets Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (usually shortened to CMAL or CMAssets; Stòras Mara Cailleannach Earr in Scottish Gaelic) owns the ferries, ports, harbours and infrastructure for the ferry services serving the west coast of Scotland, the F ...

to achieve additional public benefit from all Scotland's water-related infrastructure, both inland and maritime.

Investment programme

"Quality and Standards" is the planning process that Scottish Government uses to set out areas for improvement. Quality and Standards 3, covered the period from 2006 to 2015, during which Scottish Water were asked to deliver one of the largest capital investment programmes in the UK, including more than 2,000 individual projects. There are two main elements: * capital maintenance investment- to maintain existing levels of service to customers and to protect the environment, through replacing worn out plant and equipment * capital enhancement investment- improvements in performance such as drinking water quality, environmental performance and customer service. A £3.5bn investment programme for the period 2015 to 2021 was announced on 29 September 2014. Scottish Water’s approach to capital maintenance has previously received independent, high level scrutiny. Scottish Water has been ranked the best UK water company and utility for customer service in the 2021 benchmarking survey by the Institute of Customer Service’s latest UK Customer Satisfaction Index (UKCSI). The company attributes this to prior focussing on customers.

References

External links

Scottish WaterThe Water Industry Commission for Scotland (Scottish Water's economic regulator)The Drinking Water Quality Regulator for Scotland (Scottish Water's water quality regulator)The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Scottish Water's environmental regulator)
{{Scottish Executive Nationalised Industries Companies established in 2002

Water Water (chemical formula ) is an Inorganic compound, inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living ...

Water companies of the United Kingdom Water supply and sanitation in Scotland 2002 establishments in Scotland Companies based in Fife Dunfermline Government agencies established in 2002 Utilities of Scotland