Scottish Water is a

statutory corporation A statutory corporation is a corporation, government entity created as a statutory body by statute. Their precise nature varies by jurisdiction, but they are corporations owned by a government or controlled by national or sub-national government ...

that provides

water Water is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance. It is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known liv ...

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 ...

services across Scotland. It is accountable to the public through the

Scottish Government The Scottish Government (, ) is the executive arm of the devolved government of Scotland. It was formed in 1999 as the Scottish Executive following the 1997 referendum on Scottish devolution, and is headquartered at St Andrew's House in ...

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 allowing an economic regulator, the Water Industry Commission for Scotland, 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 also regulate Scottish Water. The Scottish Public Services Ombudsman 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 () 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 successful 1997 Scottish devolution ref ...

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

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

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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

has consulted as to how Scottish Water can work together with Scottish Canals and Caledonian Maritime Assets 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 were two main elements of capital investment: * maintenance: to maintain existing levels of service to customers and to protect the environment, by replacing worn out plant and equipment * capital enhancement: to improve 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 was 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 priority focusing 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)
{{Water companies of the United Kingdom Companies established in 2002 Public corporations of the Scottish Government 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