Wessex Water

History

The company originated as the Wessex Water Authority, one of ten regional water authorities established by the Water Act 1973. These bodies were privatised in 1989. Wessex Water Services Limited was purchased by American company Enron in 1998 for $2.4 billion and placed in a newly formed subsidiary, Azurix. In 2002, following Enron's collapse, Wessex Water was sold to YTL Power International of Malaysia.

The water authority had 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 Waterworks

• Dorset Water Board

• North Wilts Water Board

• South Wilts Water Board

• Wessex Water Board

• West Somerset Water Board

• West Wilts Water Board

• West Lulworth Water Undertaking

Five private statutory water companies were within the water authority's area of operations, and continued to operated:

• Bournemouth and District Water Company
• Bristol Waterworks Company
• Cholderton and District Water Company
• West Hampshire Water Company

Bournemouth Water and West Hampshire Water merged in 1994 to form Bournemouth and West Hampshire Water.

As of 2026, the operating company Wessex Water Services Limited is owned by Wessex Water Limited, the first in a chain of eight holding companies based in the UK, Cayman Islands, Malaysia and ultimately Yeoh Tiong Lay & Sons Family Holdings Ltd in Jersey.

Operations

Reservoirs and lakes

The company owns and manages several reservoirs including Blashford Lakes in Hampshire, Clatworthy Reservoir, Durleigh Reservoir, Hawkridge Reservoir, Otterhead Lakes, Sutton Bingham Reservoir, and Tucking Mill in Somerset. In addition to supplying drinking water, many these are nature reserves and are used for recreation.

GENeco

Wessex Water's GENeco subsidiary, established in 2009, operates 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.

In November 2014, the UK's first bus powered entirely by human and food waste went into service between Bristol and Bath, run by tour operator Bath Bus Company. Since 2019, biomethane powers buses on one of Bristol's MetroBus routes. The gas is produced at the company's "bioresources and renewable energy park" in Avonmouth, which is run by GENeco.

Performance

Wessex Water achieved a score of 4.53 in Ofwat's 'Satisfaction by company' survey 2012/13 (5 being ‘very satisfied’).

In 2013, Wessex Water's compliance with drinking water standards exceeded 99.9% and the company maintained 100% compliance with sewage treatment discharge consents.

In both 2011/12 and 2012/13, the company's leakage figure was 69 million litres per day, compared to a yearly average of 73 million litres per day between 2005 and 2010.

Wessex Water's greenhouse gas emissions totalled 119 kilotonnes of CO2 equivalent in 2018/19, compared to 149 kilotonnes of CO2 equivalent in 2011/12 and 159 kilotonnes in 2012/13.

Key people

Ruth Jefferson has been chief executive of Wessex Water since October 2024. Colin Skellet was the chief executive from 1988 to 2024; he continues as group chief executive with overall responsibility for all YTL's UK activities. Skellet was appointed OBE in the 2012 Birthday Honours for services to business and to the WaterAid organisation.{{London Gazette

Francis Yeoh, a long-serving director of YTL Corporation and currently the executive chairman of the conglomerate, is non-executive chairman of the board of Wessex Water.

Environmental and safety record

• May 1998 – Found guilty of discharging over 1 million gallons of raw sewage into a Weymouth, Dorset, marina on August Bank Holiday Monday 1997, the busiest day of the year. The company was fined £5,000 with £500 costs.
• March 1999 – Ranked 4th in the top ten list of "worst polluters" in England by the Environment Agency.
• May 2002 – Fined £8,000 for causing pollution in Dowlais Brook, Cwmbran in June 2001.
• April 2003 – Fined £5,000 with £1,000 costs at Minehead Magistrates' Court after pleading guilty to causing poisonous, noxious or polluting matter to enter the Washford River in Somerset.
• July 2003 – Described by the Environment Agency as one of the worst "repeat offenders" for pollution incidents.
• 2004 – Fined six times for environmental pollution incidents.
• May 2007 – Fined £1,500 with £1,589 costs by Bristol magistrates after pleading guilty to one offence under the Water Resources Act 1991 of causing sewage to enter controlled waters. Untreated sewage had been allowed to pollute the River Frome in July 2006. The river was polluted again with untreated sewage at Frampton Cotterell in February 2007 and April 2007.
• April 2008 – Fined £3,000 with £1,960 costs for allowing sewage to pollute the River Stour.
• March 2010 – Fined £6,000 with £2,235 costs at Weymouth Magistrates' Court after allowing sewage to pollute the River Stour near Shaftesbury in March 2009.
• 3 December 2020 − Four people, three of them Wessex Water employees, were killed in an explosion at a company site in Avonmouth, where GENeco ran a bio-methane anaerobic digestor. The official investigation into this were closed in 2024 due to "insufficient evidence" for a manslaughter conviction.

References

References

1. "About the company". Wessex Water.
2. Wessex Water website http://www.wessexwater.co.uk/About-us/The-company/Our-employees/ {{Webarchive. link. (30 April 2018)
3. (August 2021). "Malaysian energy group YTL buys Wessex Water for £1.2bn". The Independent.
4. "Wessex Water Operations Centre". Buro Happold.
5. Jolly, Jasper. (10 January 2026). "Wessex Water bosses handed £50,000 in extra pay despite Labour government's bonus ban". The Guardian.
6. "Reservoirs and lakes". Wessex Water.
7. "GENeco Limited".
8. "GENeco".
9. BBC News: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-10881080
10. "Home".
11. (21 November 2014). "UK's first 'poo bus' goes into service between Bristol and Bath". BBC News.
12. "Bristol Community Transport unveiled as Metrobus m1 operator".
13. (2019-07-18). "Biomethane bus refuelling station builds on the legacy of the Bio-Bus".
14. "Service Incentive Mechanism report". Ofwat.
15. "Past performance". Wessex Water.
16. "Annual results 2019".
17. "Meet the board".
18. Loveday, Karma. (2024-04-14). "Ruth Jefferson to lead Wessex Water, as Colin Skellett stays on as group chief executive".
19. McCarthy, Michael. (29 May 1998). "Water firms pollute rivers every week". [[The Independent]].
20. (3 September 1998). "Make the polluter pay the full price". [[The Independent]].
21. Houlder, Vanessa. (22 March 1999). "ICI Chemicals tops league table for pollution fines". [[Financial Times]].
22. Gregoriadis, Linus. (22 March 1999). "ICI tops list of Britain's filthiest companies; The Worst Polluters". [[The Independent]].
23. (22 May 2002). "Water companies fined". [[Western Mail (Wales).
24. (1 April 2003). "Water company fined for pollution". [[BBC News]].
25. Brown, Paul. (31 July 2003). "Pollution still pays as firms shrug off fines: League table of offenders fails to stem neglect". [[The Guardian]].
26. Adams, Guy. (30 September 2005). "Muddied waters?". [[The Independent]].
27. Harding, Julie. (25 May 2007). "Water firm fined over sewage spill". [[The Post, Bristol.
28. (25 May 2007). "Water firm fined £3,000 for pollution". [[Western Daily Press]].
29. (29 March 2010). "Wessex Water fined for river pollution". This Is Dorset.
30. (2020-12-04). "Avonmouth explosion: Updates as four dead and one injured".
31. (2024-07-10). "Avonmouth explosion: 'Insufficient evidence' for manslaughter conviction".