| South West Water | |
| Type: | Private |
| Industry: | Water industry |
| Foundation: | 1989 |
| Location: | Exeter, Devon |
| Area Served: | South West England |
| Num Employees: | 1200 |
| Parent: | Pennon Group |
| Subsid: | Bournemouth Water |
South West Water is a British private utility company responsible for the water supply and waste water treatment services throughout Devon and Cornwall and in small areas of Dorset and Somerset.[1] South West Water was created in 1989 with the privatisation of the water industry.[1] It was preceded by the South West Water Authority which was formed by the Water Act 1973 as one of ten regional water authorities formed by a merger of various statutory and local authority water undertakings. South West Water is part of the Pennon Group.[2]
South West Water was formed in 1989 when the water industry in the United Kingdom was privatised. It is responsible for the supply of the region's drinking water, the treatment and disposal of sewage, and the protection of inland and bathing waters. It is regulated by Ofwat, the Water Services Regulation Authority, being required to conform to United Kingdom standards.[1] Water from the Littlehampston treatment works, which serves about 162,000 people in the Torbay area of Devon, has on four separate occasions been contaminated by the dangerous cryptosporidium parasite, most recently in May 2024.[3] [4] [5] In July 1988 the water supply to Camelford, served by the Lowermoor treatment works, was severely contaminated by aluminium sulphate. Many people had medical issues after this and some died.[6]
SWW is part of the Pennon Group.
The following public utilities were taken over by the South West Water Authority in 1973:[7]
† Only the area of the authority which drained into the River Lim.
It was the subject of an episode of the fly-on-the-wall documentary Back to the Floor in 1997.[8]
The main source of the water supplied by South West Water is the twenty reservoirs they own, with 90% of the water coming from reservoirs and rivers. Upper Tamar Lake has facilities for angling and watersports, and is used by a number of local clubs including fishing and model yachting clubs.[9] The South West Lakes Trust is a charitable organisation that manages fifty inland water sites across Cornwall, Devon and West Somerset, attracting around two million visitors annually.[10]