Water today, water tomorrow
Abstract image of water

Water company licences

The licences on this website are updated copies of the Instruments of Appointment of the companies named on the title pages as water (or water and sewerage) undertakers. The appointments were made by the Secretary of State or the Water Services Regulation Authority (WSRA) under Sections 11 and 14 of the Water Act 1989 (now Sections 6, 7, 11 and 12 of the Water Industry Act 1991).

The licences on this website are copies of internal working documents of Ofwat. They are available on this website as a result of Ofwat's commitment to openness and transparency, having had regard to the provisions of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information and the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

These versions are based on, but not intended to be a substitute for, the texts of the Instruments of Appointment, including full scale maps of the areas of appointment, held on the WSRA's Register. (Each undertaker will also have received a copy of its own Instrument of Appointment and the amendments made to it.) Every reasonable effort is made to make these versions accurate and up to date, but no responsibility for their accuracy and correctness, or for any consequences of relying on them, is accepted by Ofwat.

The Instruments of Appointment held on the WSRA's Register may be inspected during normal office hours at Ofwat, 7 Hill Street, Birmingham, B5 4UA (telephone number 0121 644 7600).

Please note that the versions of Condition E in the Instruments of Appointment on this website of all the water only undertakers except Albion Water Limited (which was not affected) were updated on 18 July 2005 to correct differences from the (definitive) versions held on the WSRA's Register. The definitive versions remain unchanged. The changes made to the versions can be found on this website.

Please also check the list of licence amendments to see whether any amendments have been made to the Instruments of Appointment since the dates listed below.

Consolidated Licences


Water and sewerage undertakersLatest amendment included
Anglian Water Services Ltd1 April 2005
Northumbrian Water Ltd1 April 2005
Severn Trent Water Ltd1 April 2005
Southern Water Services Ltd1 April 2005
South West Water Ltd1 April 2005
Thames Water Utilities Ltd1 April 2005
United Utilities Water plc [formerly North West Water Ltd]1 April 2005
Welsh Water - Dwr Cymru Cyfyngedig1 April 2005
Wessex Water Services Ltd1 April 2005
Yorkshire Water Services Ltd1 April 2005

Water only undertakersLatest amendment included
Bournemouth and West Hampshire Water plc1 April 2005
Bristol Water plc1 April 2005
Cambridge Water plc1 April 2005
Cholderton and District Water Company Ltd1 April 2005
Dee Valley Water plc1 April 2005
Folkestone and Dover Water Services Ltd1 April 2005
Portsmouth Water Ltd1 April 2005
South East Water Ltd14 December 2007
South Staffordshire Water plc30 September 2005
Sutton and East Surrey Water plc1 April 2005
Tendring Hundred Water Services Ltd1 April 2005
Three Valleys Water Services plc1 April 2005

Other regulated water companiesLatest amendment included
Albion Water Ltd16 March 2000
Independent Water Networks Ltd 12 October 2007
SSE Water Ltd1 October 2007
Peel Water Networks Ltd14 February 2009
Veolia Water Projects Ltd8 June 2009

Page options

  • Return to top
  • Text only