United Utilities Plc
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United Utilities Group plc (UU) is the United Kingdom's largest listed
water company The water industry provides drinking water and wastewater services (including sewage treatment) to residential, commercial, and industrial sectors of the economy. Typically public utility, public utilities operate water supply networks. The wa ...
. It was founded in 1995 as a result of the merger of
North West Water North West Water was a water supply, sewage disposal and sewage treatment company serving North West England. It was established as the North West Water Authority in 1973, and became North West Water plc in 1989, as part of the privatisation of ...
and
NORWEB Norweb, originally the North Western Electricity Board, was a British electricity supply and distribution company. It supplied electricity to about 4.7 million industrial, commercial and domestic customers in the North West of England, although ...
. The group manages the regulated water and waste water network in
North West England North West England is one of nine official regions of England and consists of the ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. The North West had a population of 7,4 ...
, which includes
Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...
,
Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester. ...
,
Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...
,
Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial and metropolitan county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Greater Manchester to the east, Cheshire to the south, the Wales, Welsh county of Flintshire across ...
, most of
Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...
and a small area of
Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...
, which have a combined population of more than seven million. The United Utilities Group was the electricity
distribution network operator A distribution network operator (DNO), also known as a distribution system operator (DSO), is the operator of the electric power distribution system which delivers electricity to most end users. Each country may have many local distribution netwo ...
for the North West until 2010, when its electricity subsidiary was sold to
Electricity North West Electricity North West Limited is a British electricity distribution network operator, responsible for the administration and maintenance of the network, that distributes electricity to much of North West England. In 2023 it began a £2 billion ...
. United Utilities' headquarters are in
Warrington Warrington () is an industrial town in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in Cheshire, England. The town sits on the banks of the River Mersey and was Historic counties of England, historically part of Lancashire. It is east o ...
, England, and the company has more than 5,000 direct employees. Its shares are listed on the
London Stock Exchange The London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange based in London, England. the total market value of all companies trading on the LSE stood at US$3.42 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Paul's Cath ...
and it is a constituent of the
FTSE 100 Index The Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 Index, also called the FTSE 100 Index, FTSE 100, FTSE, or, informally, the "Footsie" , is the United Kingdom's best-known stock market index of the 100 most highly capitalised blue chips listed on ...
. North West England is the wettest region in England, and
water hardness Hard water is water that has a high mineral content (in contrast with "soft water"). Hard water is formed when water percolates through deposits of limestone, chalk or gypsum, which are largely made up of calcium and magnesium carbonates, bicar ...
across the region is soft to very soft.


History

In 1989 the
North West Water North West Water was a water supply, sewage disposal and sewage treatment company serving North West England. It was established as the North West Water Authority in 1973, and became North West Water plc in 1989, as part of the privatisation of ...
Authority, which was responsible for the provision of water to the North West of England, was privatised and became North West Water Group plc. In 1995, the company acquired
NORWEB Norweb, originally the North Western Electricity Board, was a British electricity supply and distribution company. It supplied electricity to about 4.7 million industrial, commercial and domestic customers in the North West of England, although ...
plc, the then regional electricity distributor and supplier, and on 1 April 1996 changed its name to United Utilities plc. In January 1998, United Utilities listed on the
New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is the List of stock exchanges, largest stock excha ...
, but delisted its shares in May 2007. In 2000, the North West Water and NORWEB branding was phased out in favour of United Utilities, the rebranding was completed by the end of 2001. The company sold some of the businesses it had acquired, its telecoms business, Your Communications was sold in February 2006, and Vertex in March 2007. In December 2007, United Utilities sold its electricity distribution network assets to North West Electricity Networks (Jersey) Limited, a joint venture between funds run by
Colonial First State Colonial First State (CFS) is an Australian wealth management group that provides investment, superannuation and retirement products to individuals as well as corporate and superannuation fund investors. History The company was established in ...
and
JPMorgan Chase JPMorgan Chase & Co. (stylized as JPMorganChase) is an American multinational financial services, finance corporation headquartered in New York City and incorporated in Delaware. It is List of largest banks in the United States, the largest ba ...
.
Electricity North West Electricity North West Limited is a British electricity distribution network operator, responsible for the administration and maintenance of the network, that distributes electricity to much of North West England. In 2023 it began a £2 billion ...
became the licensed Distribution Network Operator for the north west of England as a result. United Utilities operated and maintained the regional electricity network on behalf of Electricity North West until 2010, when Electricity North West bought the electricity network operations and maintenance arm from United Utilities to establish one Group. In October 2011, United Utilities was selected as the preferred bidder by
Severn Trent Water Severn Trent plc is a water company based in Coventry, England. It supplies 4.6 million households and business across the Midlands and Wales. It is traded on the London Stock Exchange and a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. Severn Trent, the ...
to purchase the
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 ...
estate for £11 million. United Utilities later withdrew from the bidding process. In February 2012, United Utilities proposed a national water pipeline linking water sources in Manchester to London. In April 2016, United Utilities received an 18-year loan of £500m from The European Investment Bank to support investment across the North West. In May 2016, the
Competition and Markets Authority The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is the principal competition regulator in the United Kingdom. It is a non-ministerial government department in the United Kingdom, responsible for promoting competitive markets and tackling unfair beh ...
granted United Utilities and
Severn Trent Water Severn Trent plc is a water company based in Coventry, England. It supplies 4.6 million households and business across the Midlands and Wales. It is traded on the London Stock Exchange and a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. Severn Trent, the ...
approval to create a new joint venture company in preparation for the water market deregulation. In June 2016, United Utilities and Severn Trent Water formed
Water Plus Water Plus Group Limited is a British business water retail services provider licensed in September 2016 for water supply and sewerage by OFWAT. History Headquartered in Stoke-on-Trent, Water Plus Limited was incorporated as a 50/50 joint vent ...
, in readiness to provide the retail services for their non-household customers. In May 2019, the company announced the appointment of David Higgins as a non-executive director and to succeed Dr John McAdam as chairman. In April 2022, Louise Beardmore appointed chief executive at United Utilities. As a result, five of the six top positions in UK water companies listed on the FTSE were held by women.


Operations

United Utilities currently supplies water to a population of 7.3 million people across the North West. The company also manages 78,000 kilometres of wastewater pipes which take sewage from 7.3 million people for treatment at nearly 600 wastewater treatment works. It also operates 37 renewable energy facilities.


Reservoirs

United Utilities owns some 166 water supply reservoirs, various river and stream intakes, as well as lake abstractions and numerous groundwater sources, to supply the region. Some reservoirs operated by the company are outside the North West such as the
Longdendale Chain The Longdendale Chain is a sequence of six reservoirs on the River Etherow in the Longdendale, Longdendale Valley, in northern Derbyshire. They were constructed between 1848 and 1884 to a design by John Frederick Bateman to supply the growing pop ...
in
Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...
, which were constructed by the
Manchester Corporation Manchester City Council is the local authority for the city of Manchester in Greater Manchester, England. Manchester has had an elected local authority since 1838, which has been reformed several times. Since 1974 the council has been a metropol ...
in the 19th century, and remain networked to the North West's water supply. The principal reservoirs are as follows: Cumbria *
Haweswater Reservoir Haweswater is a reservoir in the valley of Mardale, Cumbria in the Lake District, England. Work to raise the height of the original natural lake was started in 1929. It was controversially dammed after the UK Parliament passed a local act o ...
*
Thirlmere Thirlmere is a reservoir in the Cumberland (unitary authority), Cumberland district in Cumbria and the English Lake District National Park, Lake District. The Helvellyn ridge lies to the east of Thirlmere. To the west of Thirlmere are a numbe ...
Cheshire *
Lamaload Reservoir Lamaload Reservoir is a reservoir near Rainow, Cheshire, England (). It lies in the South West Peak within the Peak District National Park, to the west of the Goyt Valley, and is fed by the River Dean. The reservoir is 0.93 km × 0.53  ...
*
Macclesfield Forest Macclesfield Forest is an area of woodland, predominantly conifer plantation, around south east of Macclesfield in the civil parish of Macclesfield Forest and Wildboarclough, in Cheshire, England. The existing woodland is the last substantial ...
Derbyshire *
Longdendale Chain The Longdendale Chain is a sequence of six reservoirs on the River Etherow in the Longdendale, Longdendale Valley, in northern Derbyshire. They were constructed between 1848 and 1884 to a design by John Frederick Bateman to supply the growing pop ...
** Woodhead Reservoir **
Torside Reservoir Torside Reservoir is the largest man-made lake in Longdendale in north Derbyshire, England. It was constructed by John Frederick Bateman between April 1849 and July 1864 as part of the Longdendale Chain of reservoirs to supply water from the R ...
** Bottoms Reservoir ** Arnfield Reservoir * Hurst Reservoir * Bottoms Reservoir *
Errwood Reservoir Errwood Reservoir is a drinking-water reservoir in the Peak District National Park, within the county of Derbyshire and very close to the boundary with Cheshire. The reservoir was the second of two reservoirs built in the Goyt Valley, the oth ...
*
Fernilee Reservoir Fernilee Reservoir is a drinking-water reservoir fed by the River Goyt in the Peak District National Park, within the county of Derbyshire and very close to the boundary with Cheshire. The village of Fernliee sits at the north end of the reser ...
Greater Manchester * Belmont Reservoir *
High Rid Reservoir High Rid Reservoir is a small, stone-sided reservoir close to Lostock Junction. It lies three miles to the west of Bolton town centre, Greater Manchester. Public uses As of August 2020, the site at High Rid is now operated by Lancashire Outdoo ...
*
Rumworth Lodge Reservoir Rumworth Lodge Reservoir is a large shallow reservoir in Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. It is located to the west of Bolton's A58 (Beaumont Road) and to the South-East of Lostock railway station. The water from the reservoir is not used ...
*
Gorton Reservoirs Gorton Reservoirs are two reservoirs on the boundary of Tameside and Manchester in the North West of England. They are Gorton Upper Reservoir and Gorton Lower Reservoir. The upper and lower sections are separated by a road supported by a stone br ...
*
Heaton Park Reservoir Heaton Park Reservoir is a granite sided reservoir in the North-West of England, on the border between the City of Manchester and Bury and is owned by United Utilities, and can be found within the grounds of Heaton Park. Heaton Park BT Tower lies ...
* Dove Stone Reservoir *
Chew Reservoir Chew Reservoir is a reservoir at the head of the Chew Valley in the Peak District National Park in Greater Manchester, England. The reservoir scheme in the Greenfield and Chew Valleys by the Ashton Stalybridge and Dukinfield Waterworks Joint Com ...
*
Greenfield Reservoir Greenfield Reservoir is a reservoir in the Saddleworth parish of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham in Greater Manchester, in the English Peak District. Lying within the historic boundaries of the West Riding of Yorkshire, above the village of G ...
* Strinesdale Reservoir *
Yeoman Hey Reservoir Yeoman Hey Reservoir is a reservoir in the English Peak District. On its margin is a commemorative stone laid by the King of Tonga in 1981. The reservoir is within the boundaries of Greater Manchester but was formerly in the West Riding of Yorksh ...
*
Ashworth Moor Reservoir Ashworth Moor Reservoir is an upland water supply reservoir amongst the Pennines in Greater Manchester, England close to the A680 road between Rochdale and Edenfield. It is south of Scout Moor Wind Farm. Drinking water reservoirs in England ...
* Blackstone Edge Reservoir *
Kitcliffe Reservoir Kitcliffe Reservoir is a reservoir in Piethorne Valley in between Ogden and Piethorne Reservoirs in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, within Greater Manchester, England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is p ...
*
Norman Hill Reservoir Norman Hill Reservoir is a reservoir in the Piethorne Valley in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, within Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire ...
* Ogden Reservoir *
Piethorne Reservoir Piethorne Reservoir is the largest of several reservoirs in the Piethorne Valley above Newhey, by Milnrow, in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England. It was built between 1858 and 1868. During excavations at Piethorne ...
*
Rooden Reservoir Rooden Reservoir is a reservoir in the Piethorne Valley in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, within Greater Manchester, England. It is close to Denshaw in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham The Metropolitan Borough of Oldham is a metro ...
*
Watergrove Reservoir Watergrove Reservoir is a reservoir close to Wardle in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, within Greater Manchester, England. Rochdale Corporation chose Watergrove as a suitable site to build a large reservoir largely to a prolonged drought ...
*
Audenshaw Reservoirs The Audenshaw Reservoirs were constructed between 1877 and 1882 by Manchester Corporation. They are located between Audenshaw and Denton, in Greater Manchester, England. Their construction was overseen by John Frederick Bateman. Part of the villa ...
*
Godley Reservoir The Godley Reservoir is a reservoir in Godley, Greater Manchester, Godley, Hyde, Greater Manchester, Hyde, Greater Manchester. It was completed in 1851, as a critical part of the Longdendale Chain project that brings fresh water to Manchester. T ...
* Worthington Lakes Lancashire *The Rivington Chain. **
Anglezarke Reservoir Anglezarke Reservoir is the largest reservoir in the Rivington chain to the west of Anglezarke in Lancashire, England. Anglezarke Reservoir has three embankments: the Charnock Embankment, the longest, is long and high, the Knowsley Embankment ...
**
Upper Rivington Reservoir Upper Rivington Reservoir is situated centrally in the Rivington chain of reservoirs, on the West Pennine Moors in Lancashire, England, between Rivington and Anglezarke. The engineer for the Rivington reservoirs was Thomas Hawksley and construc ...
**
Lower Rivington Reservoir Lower Rivington Reservoir is at the end of the Rivington chain of reservoirs in Lancashire, England, with Upper Rivington Reservoir to the north, and Rivington Water Treatment Works to the south. The Rivington chain primarily supplies 70,000 hou ...
** Yarrow Reservoir **
Upper Roddlesworth Reservoir Upper Roddlesworth Reservoir is a reservoir on the River Roddlesworth near Abbey Village in Lancashire, England. The reservoir is close to Lower Roddlesworth Reservoir and Rake Brook Reservoir and sits within dense woodland. History The constr ...
**
Lower Roddlesworth Reservoir Lower Roddlesworth Reservoir is a reservoir on the River Roddlesworth close to Abbey Village in Lancashire, England. The reservoir is close to Upper Roddlesworth Reservoir and Rake Brook Reservoir, situated within thick forest. It was construc ...
**
Rake Brook Reservoir Rake Brook Reservoir is a reservoir fed by two streams, including the eponymous Rake Brook, a tributary of the River Roddlesworth in Lancashire, England. The reservoir is adjacent to the two Roddlesworth Reservoirs. It was constructed in the 185 ...
** High Bullough Reservoir * Clowbridge *Cowm Reservoir *
Haslingden Grane Haslingden Grane is the glaciated upper portion of the valley of the River Ogden, which lies west of Haslingden and is in the north east section of the West Pennine Moors. To the north is Oswaldtwistle Moor, and to the south Musbury Heights. It ...
*
Stocks Reservoir Stocks Reservoir is a reservoir situated at the head of the Hodder valley in the Forest of Bowland, Lancashire, England (historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire until 1974). It provides water mainly for Blackpool and the Fylde coast. The re ...
*
Wayoh Reservoir Wayoh Reservoir is a water reservoir in the town of Edgworth, Lancashire, England. It was completed on 28 April 1876 to supply water to Bolton Bolton ( , locally ) is a town in Greater Manchester in England. In the foothills of the West P ...


Service problems


Watermain breaks

In May 2010, a burst water main cut 15,000 customers in Moreton, Leasowe and Wallasey off water for 3 days. In November 2019, a burst pipe in a local treatment works disrupted water supply in the CH 41/42/43/63 areas and bottled water supply points were set up.


Water and land contamination

On 7 August 2015,
cryptosporidium ''Cryptosporidium'', sometimes called crypto, is an apicomplexan genus of alveolates which are parasitism, parasites that can cause a respiratory and gastrointestinal illness (cryptosporidiosis) that primarily involves watery diarrhea (inte ...
, a water-borne parasite that can cause diarrhoea and vomiting, had been detected in the water supply to
Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...
,
Chorley Chorley is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England, north of Wigan, south west of Blackburn, north west of Bolton, south of Preston and north west of Manchester. The town's wealth ca ...
, Fylde, Preston,
South Ribble South Ribble is a local government district with borough status in Lancashire, England. Its council is based in Leyland. The borough includes the towns and villages of Penwortham, Leyland, Farington, Farington Moss, Hutton, Longton, Walmer B ...
and Wyre affecting more than 300,000 customers. No cases of cryptosporidiosis were reported and by introducing of
ultra-violet Ultraviolet radiation, also known as simply UV, is electromagnetic radiation of wavelengths of 10–400 nanometers, shorter than that of visible light, but longer than X-rays. UV radiation is present in sunlight and constitutes about 10% of the ...
treatment units "boil water" notices could be lifted in some areas. Initial investigations by United Utilities and the
Drinking Water Inspectorate The Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) is a section of Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) set up to regulate the privatised water supply companies in England and Wales. Based in Whitehall, it produces an annual report showi ...
had not identified the cause. Later the root cause was identified as run-off water from agricultural land following severe rainfall. On 6 September 2015, the water supply was declared free from contamination, and restrictions were lifted. United Utilities was subsequently fined £300,000 at Preston Crown Court on 10 October 2017 for supplying water unfit for human consumption, with an additional £150,000 costs. It paid around £18 million in compensation to its customers. United Utilities held a number of seminars following this event to outline steps it had taken following the incident and share lessons with other water companies. In 2023, it was reported that an area of council land in
Stockport Stockport is a town in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt, Rivers Goyt and River Tame, Greater Manchester, Tame merge to create the River Mersey he ...
that had been earmarked for development into amenity woodland had been so contaminated by sewage discharge that it was unsafe to proceed and the plans had to be dropped. The same report noted that United Utilities were the worst-polluting water company in the UK in 2022, with "10 of the country’s 20 pipes that spilled the most sewage in 2022 eingowned by United Utilities", and that they had discharged raw sewage into the
River Ellen The Ellen is a river in the English county of Cumbria, flowing from Skiddaw in the Northern Fells to the Solway Firth at Maryport. It was historically in the county of Cumberland. It is approximately in length. Etymology The River Ellen ge ...
in
Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...
for almost 7,000 hours that year. The
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 ...
stated that United Utilities released raw sewage into rivers for over 425,491 hours in 2022, and that England's largest lake,
Windermere Windermere (historically Winder Mere) is a ribbon lake in Cumbria, England, and part of the Lake District. It is the largest lake in England by length, area, and volume, but considerably smaller than the List of lakes and lochs of the United Ki ...
in the
Lake District The Lake District, also known as ''the Lakes'' or ''Lakeland'', is a mountainous region and National parks of the United Kingdom, national park in Cumbria, North West England. It is famous for its landscape, including its lakes, coast, and mou ...
, received sewage from storm overflows for 246 days that year. It was reported in figures submitted to the Environment Agency by the water industry that in the following year, 2023, over 33% of United Utilities outflows discharged raw sewage 60 times or more into waterways, and over the course of the year United Utilities discharged sewage into waterways for a total of 656,014 hours, representing a 54% increase in its sewage discharge compared with 2022. On the evening of 28 February 2024 until the morning of 29 February, United Utilities pumped almost of raw sewage illegally into the middle of Windermere, after pumps at the pumping station in Bowness malfunctioned. The company failed to report this to the Environment Agency until 13 hours after the incident began.


Intrusion into the aquifer

In 2023 the company was fined £800,000 for illegally removing of water from the Lancashire
aquifer An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing material, consisting of permeability (Earth sciences), permeable or fractured rock, or of unconsolidated materials (gravel, sand, or silt). Aquifers vary greatly in their characteristics. The s ...
.


See also

*'' Watermen: A Dirty Business'', 2014 documentary television series following employees of United Utilities


References


External links

*
Yahoo profile
{{Authority control Water companies of England Companies based in Warrington Companies listed on the London Stock Exchange Electric power distribution network operators in the United Kingdom Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange Former cross-listed companies 1995 establishments in England Companies in the FTSE 100 Index