DRD Water Service
Encyclopedia
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
. Formerly an executive agency
Executive agency
An executive agency, also known as a next-step agency, is a part of a government department that is treated as managerially and budgetarily separate in order to carry out some part of the executive functions of the United Kingdom government, Scottish Government, Welsh Assembly or Northern Ireland...
(the Northern Ireland Water Service) within Northern Ireland's Department for Regional Development
Department for Regional Development
The Department for Regional Development is a devolved Northern Ireland government department in the Northern Ireland Executive...
, it became a government-owned company
Government-owned corporation
A government-owned corporation, state-owned company, state-owned entity, state enterprise, publicly owned corporation, government business enterprise, or parastatal is a legal entity created by a government to undertake commercial activities on behalf of an owner government...
on 1 April 2007. The company provides 625 million litres of clean water a day for almost 1.7 million people as well as treating 134 million m3 of wastewater every year, and has approximately 1,400 staff. It is responsible for 26,500 km of watermains and 14,500 km of sewerage
Sanitary sewer
A sanitary sewer is a separate underground carriage system specifically for transporting sewage from houses and commercial buildings to treatment or disposal. Sanitary sewers serving industrial areas also carry industrial wastewater...
mains, as well as 47 water treatment works
Water purification
Water purification is the process of removing undesirable chemicals, materials, and biological contaminants from contaminated water. The goal is to produce water fit for a specific purpose...
and 918 wastewater treatment works
Sewage treatment
Sewage treatment, or domestic wastewater treatment, is the process of removing contaminants from wastewater and household sewage, both runoff and domestic. It includes physical, chemical, and biological processes to remove physical, chemical and biological contaminants...
.
History
Prior to 1973, water and sewerage services in Northern Ireland outside BelfastBelfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
were the responsibility of local councils
Local government
Local government refers collectively to administrative authorities over areas that are smaller than a state.The term is used to contrast with offices at nation-state level, which are referred to as the central government, national government, or federal government...
. Within the capital, the Belfast Water Commissioners were responsible. The Water Commissioners' building in the city centre
Belfast City Centre
Belfast city centre is the central business district of Belfast, Northern Ireland.The city centre was originally centred around the Donegall Street area. Donegall Street is now mainly a business area, but with expanding residential and entertainment development as part of the Cathedral Quarter...
is a landmark, currently occupied by retailer Marks and Spencer.
In 1973, responsibility for providing these services was transferred to Department of the Environment (Northern Ireland). Within the Department, a new Water Executive was responsible for the management and administration of water and sewerage services. In 1996, the Water Executive became an executive agency
Executive agency
An executive agency, also known as a next-step agency, is a part of a government department that is treated as managerially and budgetarily separate in order to carry out some part of the executive functions of the United Kingdom government, Scottish Government, Welsh Assembly or Northern Ireland...
and was rebranded as the Northern Ireland Water Service and, in 1999, responsibility for water transferred to the Department for Regional Development.
In 2005, the Water Service had an annual budget of £
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
302 million and fixed assets of £4.9 billion.
2010-2011 water shortages
In late December 2010, Northern Ireland Water blamed historic underinvestment and a rapid thaw, after a period of snow and record low temperatures, for causing an unprecedented amount of burst pipes in the system, which left around 56,000 households in around 80 towns and villages without water — some for up to 12 days.. It later transpired that over 80% of the water loss was due to leakage on the consumer network and not the N.I Water network as was previously thought.The situation received significant attention in the United Kingdom press, and the Northern Ireland Assembly
Northern Ireland Assembly
The Northern Ireland Assembly is the devolved legislature of Northern Ireland. It has power to legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and to appoint the Northern Ireland Executive...
had to seek assistance from the Scottish Government to provide around 160,000 litres of bottled water over the New Year period. During the shortage, Northern Ireland Water pumped an additional 250 million litres of water per day into the system, most of which was lost through leaks. This is an increase of 40%, bringing the total daily output to 850 million litres of water per day.
Northern Ireland Water's interim chairman, Padraic White, described the company's response to the crisis as unsatisfactory, "particularly in terms of conveying information to people". Laurence MacKenzie, Northern Ireland Water's chief executive, resigned on 5 January 2011 following criticism of his handling of the crisis.
Privatisation
Northern Ireland Water and Scottish WaterScottish Water
Scottish Water is a statutory corporation in Scotland that provides water and sewerage services. Unlike in England and Wales, water and sewerage provision in Scotland continues as a public corporation accountable to the public through the Scottish Government....
are the only United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
water companies not to have been privatised
Privatization
Privatization is the incidence or process of transferring ownership of a business, enterprise, agency or public service from the public sector to the private sector or to private non-profit organizations...
.
The announcement of the establishment of a state-owned company was made by Minister of State John Spellar
John Spellar
John Francis Spellar is a British Labour Party politician, and the Member of Parliament for Warley. He served as a Minister of State at the Northern Ireland Office, before returning to the backbenches in 2005...
in August 2004 to much public criticism. The main reason for this is the proposed introduction of water charges for domestic consumers. A widespread public campaign to stop the introduction of the charges ensued, with the organisers claiming that Northern Ireland's water services are already being paid for through the rates system. The government countered with the assertion that Northern Ireland pays less per person in rates than people in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
and Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
do for their combined council tax
Council tax
Council Tax is the system of local taxation used in England, Scotland and Wales to part fund the services provided by local government in each country. It was introduced in 1993 by the Local Government Finance Act 1992, as a successor to the unpopular Community Charge...
and water charges, and that the extra investment is also needed to upgrade Northern Ireland's water infrastructure, particularly its mainly Victorian-era
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
sewers
Sanitary sewer
A sanitary sewer is a separate underground carriage system specifically for transporting sewage from houses and commercial buildings to treatment or disposal. Sanitary sewers serving industrial areas also carry industrial wastewater...
.
The changes resulted in the loss of civil servant status for Water Service employees and a number of job losses. The agency's customer services function was outsourced in October 2006 to Echo Managed Services, ultimately owned by South Staffordshire PLC.
Major reservoirs and treatment works
- Silent Valley ReservoirSilent Valley ReservoirThe Silent Valley Reservoir is a reservoir located in the Mourne Mountains near Kilkeel, County Down in Northern Ireland. It supplies most of the water for County Down, surrounding counties and most of Belfast. It is owned and maintained by Northern Ireland Water Limited...
- Lough NeaghLough NeaghLough Neagh, sometimes Loch Neagh, is a large freshwater lake in Northern Ireland. Its name comes .-Geography:With an area of , it is the largest lake in the British Isles and ranks among the forty largest lakes of Europe. Located twenty miles to the west of Belfast, it is approximately twenty...
- Ben Crom Reservoir
- Spelga Dam and Reservoir
- Dunore Point