The Anglian Water Authority was a British regional water authority that served the

East Anglia East Anglia is an area of the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, with parts of Essex sometimes also included. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, ...

region. It was formed in 1974 by virtue of the Water Act 1973 as one of the regional water authorities. It established its headquarters in

Huntingdon Huntingdon is a market town in the Huntingdonshire district of 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 C ...

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 was

privatised Privatization (rendered privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation wh ...

in 1989, to create

Anglian Water Anglian Water Services Limited 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 ...

which took over many of its assets and responsibilities, the remainder being vested in the Environment Agency.

History

Foundation through merger

Anglian Water Authority was created in 1974 by virtue of the Water Act 1973. 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) * Great Ouse River Authority * Lincolnshire River Authority * Welland and Nene River Authority It also took over

sewage treatment Sewage treatment is a type of wastewater treatment which aims to remove contaminants from sewage to produce an effluent that is suitable to discharge to the surrounding environment or an intended reuse application, thereby preventing water p ...

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 drains, manholes, pumping stations, storm overflows, and scr ...

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 the fou ...

* Gainsborough *

Glanford Brigg Brigg (Wikipedia:IPA for English#Key, /'brɪg/) is a market town in North Lincolnshire, England, with a population of 5,076 in the United Kingdom Census 2001, 2001 UK census, the population increased to 5,626 at the 2011 census. The town lies ...

Houghton Regis Houghton Regis is a market town and civil parish in the Central Bedfordshire district of Bedfordshire, England. The parish includes the hamlets of Bidwell, Thorn and Sewell. Houghton Regis, together with its contiguous neighbours of Dunsta ...

Thurrock Thurrock () is a unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Essex, England. It lies on the north bank of the River ...

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

Ipswich Corporation Ipswich Corporation was the local authority which ran the town of Ipswich in Suffolk, England. It was founded in 1200 and abolished in 1974, being replaced by Ipswich Borough Council. The corporation's formal name until 1835 was the "bailiffs, bu ...

* 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 through privatisation

In 1989, the

privatisation Privatization (rendered privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation w ...

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 indust ...

in England and Wales saw the creation of

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 region ...

, 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 enha ...

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