Wessex Water Services Limited, known as Wessex Water, is a water supply

Water supply

Water supply is the provision of water by public utilities, commercial organisations, community endeavours or by individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes...

 and sewerage

Sewerage

Sewerage refers to the infrastructure that conveys sewage. It encompasses receiving drains, manholes, pumping stations, storm overflows, screening chambers, etc. of the sanitary sewer...

 utility company serving an area of the south west of England, covering 10,000 square kilometres including Dorset, Somerset, Bristol, most of Wiltshire and parts of Gloucestershire and Hampshire. Wessex Water supplies 1.3 million people with around 285 million litres of water a day.

It is regulated under the Water Industry Act 1991

Water Industry Act 1991

The Water Industry Act 1991 is an Act of the United Kingdom Parliament consolidating previous enactments relating to the water supply and the provision of wastewater services in England and Wales. It further implemented recommendations of the Law Commission.-Sections:Part 1 deals with the...

. The company currently employs about 2,000 employees.

Wessex Water is owned by the Malaysian power company YTL Corporation. It had been purchased by Azurix

Azurix

Azurix Corp. is a water services company, headquartered in Houston, Texas. The company owned and operated facilities in North America , Europe, and South America...

, an Enron

Enron

Enron Corporation was an American energy, commodities, and services company based in Houston, Texas. Before its bankruptcy on December 2, 2001, Enron employed approximately 22,000 staff and was one of the world's leading electricity, natural gas, communications, and pulp and paper companies, with...

-affiliated company, in 1998.

History

The company originated as the Wessex Water Authority, one of ten regional water authorities established by the Water Act 1973. Privatised, in 1989, Wessex Water Services Limited was purchased by Enron in July 1998 for $2.4 billion. Following that company's collapse Wessex Water was sold to YTL Power International of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in 2002.

The company is headquartered on the edge of Bath in Claverton Down

Claverton Down

Claverton Down is a suburb on the south-east hilltop edge of Bath, Somerset, England. It is linked to the Bathwick area of the city by Bathwick Hill....

, in a new energy efficient building by Bennetts Associates

Bennetts Associates

Bennetts Associates is one of the UK’s leading firms of architects, and has won more than 100 awards since its foundation in 1987.In particular, Bennetts Associates is recognised for its expertise in sustainability through innovative projects such as the Wessex Water Operations Centre in Bath,...

 and Buro Happold

Buro Happold

Buro Happold is a professional services firm providing engineering consultancy, design, planning, project management and consulting services for all aspects of buildings, infrastructure and the environment, with its head office in Bath, Somerset...

.

The water authority acquired the assets and duties of a number of public sector and local authority water utilities:

• Bristol Avon River Authority
• Somerset River Authority
• Avon and Dorset River Authority (except the part of the area of that drains to the River Lim)
• Bath Corporation
• Dorset Water Board
• North Wilts Water Board
• South Wilts Water Board
• Wessex Water Board
• West Somerset Water Board
• West Wilts Water Board
• Bournemouth and District Water Company †
• Bristol Waterworks Company
• Cholderton and District Water Company †
• West Hampshire Water Company †
• West Lulworth Water Undertaking

Reservoirs and lakes

The company owns and manages several reservoirs including; Blashford Lakes in Dorset

Dorset

Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...

, Clatworthy Reservoir

Clatworthy Reservoir

Clatworthy Reservoir is situated near Clatworthy in the Brendon Hills on the edge of the Exmoor National Park in west Somerset, England. It is run by Wessex Water and has a capacity of , supplying some 200,000 homes...

, Durleigh Reservoir

Durleigh reservoir

Durleigh reservoir at Durleigh in Somerset, England covers and was formed in 1938 when Durleigh brook, a tributary of the River Parrett, was dammed.It is used for coarse fishing, particularly carp, roach, bream, perch, tench and pike....

, Hawkridge Reservoir

Hawkridge Reservoir

Hawkridge Reservoir is a reservoir near Spaxton, Somerset, England. The inflow is from several streams in the Quantock Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty including Peart Water and water flows out into Cannington Brook, which is dammed further downstream to make the Ashford Reservoir which was...

, Otterhead Lakes

Otterhead Lakes

Otterhead Lakes are a pair of reservoirs in the Blackdown Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty south of Otterford in Somerset, England. They are fed by the River Otter and managed by the Otterhead Estate Trust Company Limited, working with the Somerset Wildlife Trust on behalf of Wessex Water...

, Sutton Bingham Reservoir

Sutton Bingham Reservoir

Sutton Bingham Reservoir is a reservoir near the village of Sutton Bingham in the civil parish of Closworth, Somerset, England.The reservoir was built in the 1950s to supply water to Yeovil...

 and Tucking Mill

Tucking Mill

Tucking Mill is a small hamlet within the parish of Monkton Combe, Somerset, England. It lies on Midford Brook and was a key point on the now disused Somerset Coal Canal....

 in Somerset

Somerset

The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...

, many of which, in addition to supplying drinking water are used for recreation and as nature reserves.

GENeco

GENeco is part of the Wessex Water group of companies and operate sewage treatment works. It recycles waste, produces renewable energy and provides the agricultural industry with fertiliser.
In summer 2010, GENeco launched the Bio-Bug, a modified VW Beetle that runs on bio-gas generated from waste treated at sewage treatment works. Waste flushed down the toilets of just 70 homes in Bristol is enough to power the Bio-Bug for a year, based on an annual mileage of 10,000 miles.