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 third Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, 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 Midlands ...

and

River Severn The River Severn (, ), at long, is the longest river in Great Britain. It is also the river with the most voluminous flow of water by far in all of England and Wales, with an average flow rate of at Apperley, Gloucestershire. It rises in t ...

. It assumed the powers and responsibilities of existing water supply authorities in those catchment areas, the Severn River Authority, the Trent River Authority 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 The River Severn (, ), at long, is the longest river in Great Britain. It is also the river with the most voluminous flow of water by far in all of England and Wales, with an average flow rate of at Apperley, Gloucestershire. It rises in t ...

and the Trent. In July 1989, the authority was partly privatised under the Water Act 1989, 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 sewerage, sewer system. Sewage consists of wastewater discharged fro ...

for around 8 million people living in the

Midlands The Midlands is the central region of England, to the south of Northern England, to the north of southern England, to the east of Wales, and to the west of the North Sea. The Midlands comprises the ceremonial counties of Derbyshire, Herefor ...

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 harm. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, the component ...

flood prevention Flood management or flood control are methods used to reduce or prevent the detrimental effects of flood waters. Flooding can be caused by a mix of both natural processes, such as extreme weather upstream, and human changes to waterbodies and ru ...

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 water supply department of Coventry Corporation *the water supply department of Leicester Corporation * City of Nottingham Water Department *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 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 ( SI 1993/2130) * 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 SRB rivet benchmark

*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: * Trent River Authority * Severn 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 Water Act 1973 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 (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation. Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of water, interrup ...

. These included: * Carsington Reservoir – River Derwent compensation flow pumped storage facility * Upper Derwent Valley ( Derwent,

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

and Ladybower Reservoirs) – Built by the Derwent Valley Water Board to supply the cities of

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

Derby Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...

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 south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

and

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

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 ...

* Foremark Reservoir * Shustoke Reservoir * Tittesworth reservoir * Ogston Reservoir, in the

Amber Valley Amber Valley is a local government district with borough status in the east of Derbyshire, England, taking its name from the River Amber. Its council is based in Ripley. The district covers a semi-rural area lying to the north of the city of ...

* Linacre Reservoirs (non operational since 1995) It also operated the filtration works at the Elan Valley Reservoirs It also had abstraction licences for river abstractions which included operating rules linked to storage at both Clywedog reservoir and

Lake Vyrnwy Lake Vyrnwy (, or ') is a reservoir in Powys, Wales, built in the 1880s for Liverpool Corporation Waterworks to supply Liverpool with fresh water. It flooded the head of the River Vyrnwy, Vyrnwy () valley and submerged the village of Llanwddyn ...

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

References

{{Authority control

External links

list of archived documents relating to "Severn River Board" one of the many predecessor organisations of the "Severn Trent River Authority" before 1974
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

External links