Thames Water Authority

Metropolitan Water Board
Numerous smaller water undertakers & river conservancies

Dissolved1989Superseding agencies

Thames Water
National Rivers Authority

The Thames Water Authority was one of ten regional water authorities created in the UK on 1 April 1974 under the provisions of the Water Act 1973^[1] to bring together all the water management functions of the region in one public body.

Predecessors

The bodies subsumed by the Thames Water Authority included the Metropolitan Water Board, the Thames Conservancy, the Lee Conservancy Catchment Board and parts of the Essex and Kent River authorities. ^[1] It also took over water and sewage responsibility from the following water suppliers in the Thames catchment:^[2]

Colne Valley Water Company
Cotswold Water Board
Croydon Corporation
East Surrey Water Company
Epsom and Ewell Corporation
Lee Valley Water Company
Mid Southern Water Company
Middle Thames Water Board
Oxfordshire and District Water Board
Rickmansworth and Uxbridge Valley Water Company
South West Suburban Water Company
Sutton District Water Company
Swindon Corporation
Thames Valley Water Board
Watford Corporation
West Surrey Water Board
Woking and District Water Company

Dissolution

In 1989 the Thames Water Authority was partly privatised, under the provisions of the Water Act 1989^[3] with the water and sewage responsibilities transferring to the newly established publicly quoted company of Thames Water, and the regulatory, land drainage and navigation responsibilities transferring to the newly created National Rivers Authority which later became the Environment Agency.

References

^ ^a ^b "Water Act 1973", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1973 c. 37
^ "The Thames Water Authority Constitution Order 1973: Schedule 3", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 1973/1360 (sch. 3)
^ "Water Act 1989", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1989 c. 15