Anglian Water

Anglian Water is a privatised water company that operates in the East of England. Named for East Anglia, apart from Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire it also covers Lincolnshire, Essex, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and a small part of Greater London around Upminster. Anglian's catchment areas are essentially between the Humber and the River Thames, including the River Great Ouse.

It is regulated under the Water Industry Act 1991.

Origins

The Anglian Water Authority was formed by the Water Act 1973 as one of ten regional water authorities which took over statutory and local authority owned water supply and sewerage undertakings. The Anglian authority combined five river authorities with water utilities in Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Humberside, Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Northamptonshire and Suffolk:

East Suffolk and Norfolk River Authority
Essex River Authority
Great Ouse River Authority
Lincolnshire River Authority
Welland and Nene River Authority
Ipswich Corporation
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 Works
South Lincolnshire Water Board
South Norfolk Water Board
West Suffolk Water Board
Wisbech and District Water Board
Cambridge Water Company
East Anglian Water Company
Essex Water Company
Tendring Hundred Waterworks Company

Privatisation

Anglian Water was privatised as Anglian Water Services Limited in 1989. It is now a subsidiary of AWG plc. It currently provides water for 2.6 million properties, and covers an area of 27,500 square kilometres. In 1997 Anglian took over Hartlepool Water.

Anglian Water Leisure

Anglian operate the reservoirs Rutland Water, Grafham Water, Alton Water, Pitsford Water, Ravensthorpe and Taversham Mills. Apart from providing water supplies, a separate leisure division has been formed to promote the use of these facilities for recreational use. Activities provided for include water sports, fishing, bird watching, cycling and walking.

Cryptosporidium outbreak

On 25 June 2008, Anglian Water found traces of Cryptosporidium in water supplies of Northamptonshire. The local reservoir, Pitsford, was investigated to find a rabbit which had strayed into it, causing the problem. About 250,000 residents had to boil their tap water for 10 days, until the source was found and removed, and more than a thousand miles of pipes were cleaned and flushed. By 14 July 2008, 13 cases of cryptosporidiosis attributed to water in Northampton had been reported. Following the end of the investigation, Anglian Water lifted its boil notice for all affected areas on 4 July 2008. Anglian Water revealed that it will pay up to £30 per household as compensation for customers hit by the water crisis.