Water supply and sanitation in Scotland

Scotland Scotland Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the... : Water and Sanitation

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!align="center" bgcolor="lightblue" colspan="3"|Data
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!align="left" valign="top"|Water coverage (broad definition)
|valign="top"| 100%
|-
!align="left" valign="top"|Sanitation coverage (broad definition)
|valign="top"| 100%
|-
!align="left" valign="top"|Continuity of supply (%)
|valign="top"| 100%
|-
!align="left" valign="top"|Average urban water use (l/c/d)
|valign="top"| n/a
|-
!align="left" valign="top"|Average urban domestic water and sewer bill
|valign="top"| £26 per month
|-
!align="left" valign="top"|Share of household metering
|valign="top"| n/a
|-
!align="left" valign="top"|Non-revenue water

Non-revenue water

Non revenue water is water that has been produced and is “lost” before it reaches the customer. Losses can be real losses or apparent losses . High levels of NRW are detrimental to the financial viability of water utilities, as well to the quality of water itself...

Scottish Water

Scottish Water is a statutory corporation in Scotland that provides water and sewerage services. Unlike in England and Wales, water and sewerage provision in Scotland continues as a public corporation accountable to the public through the Scottish Government....

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!align="left" valign="top"|Water and sanitation regulator
|valign="top"| Water Industry Commission for Scotland
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!align="left" valign="top"|Responsibility for policy setting
|valign="top"|
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!align="left" valign="top"|Sector law
|valign="top"| None
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!align="left" valign="top"|Number of service providers
|valign="top"| 1
|-
|}

Public 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 sanitation

Sanitation

Sanitation is the hygienic means of promoting health through prevention of human contact with the hazards of wastes. Hazards can be either physical, microbiological, biological or chemical agents of disease. Wastes that can cause health problems are human and animal feces, solid wastes, domestic...

in Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

is characterized by universal access and generally good service quality. Water and sewerage services are provided by a single public company, Scottish Water

Scottish Water

. The economic water industry regulator is the Water Industry Commission for Scotland. It "promotes the interests of water and sewerage customers in Scotland by making sure that householders and businesses receive a high-quality service and value for money by setting prices, monitoring Scottish Water’s performance and facilitating competition in the water industry". The environmental regulator is the Scottish Environment Protection Agency

Scottish Environment Protection Agency

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency is Scotland’s environmental regulator. Its main role is to protect and improve Scotland's environment...

. Drinking water standards and wastewater discharge standards are determined by the EU (see EU water policy).

Service quality

The Water Commission measures the service quality of Scottish Water using an overall performance assessment (OPA) index, which takes into account unplanned supply interruptions, pressure, drinking water quality, responses to written complaints, ease of telephone contact, sewer floodings, sewage treatment works compliance and leakage. While Scottish Water's OPA score improved from 162 in 2003-2004 to 232 in 2006-2007, it remained below the average of 294 for water companies in England and Wales in 2006-2007.

Infrastructure

Scottish Water operates and maintains over 47,000 kilometres of water pipes, 49,000 kilometres of sewer pipes, 1963 waste water treatment works (including 1231 septic tanks) and 319 water treatment works plus pumping stations, sludge treatment centres, reservoirs.

History

In the past, twelve Regional and Island Councils (local authorities) were responsible for water supply in Scotland, alongside other local services. Unlike in England and Wales, the assets of the industry were owned by local governments, many of which were not governed by the Conservative Party at the time of the water privatization in England and Wales. As a consequence, water and sanitation service provision in Scotland remained public.

Subsequently, the Regional and Island Councils were merged into three regional public service providers. In 2002 the Scottish Parliament

Scottish Parliament

The Scottish Parliament is the devolved national, unicameral legislature of Scotland, located in the Holyrood area of the capital, Edinburgh. The Parliament, informally referred to as "Holyrood", is a democratically elected body comprising 129 members known as Members of the Scottish Parliament...

passed the Water Industry (Scotland) Act 2002 merging the three providers into a single one, Scottish Water

Scottish Water

. In 2005 it passed the Water Services etc. (Scotland) Act 2005 allowing competition for "retail services" - defined as metering, billing and customer service - to business customers beginning in 2008, while wholesale services - defined as providing water and removing wastewater - remain a public monopoly.

Financial aspects and efficiency

Tariffs According to Scottish Water, the charge for the average household bill in Scotland in 2008/09 (£310) is lower than the average household bill in England and Wales (£330).

Investments In 2006/07 Scottish Water invested £413 million in its infrastructure, equivalent to about £80 per capita. According to the regulator, its planned investments per property for 2006-2010 are much larger than those of English water companies of the same size.

Efficiency In 2007 operating costs of Scottish Water were 40% lower than those of the three former water authorities in 2002. Its customer service is also considerably better. According to the regulator, Scottish Water's achievement is "unprecedented in the UK water industry". The level of leakage at Scottish Water has declined from 1104 Megalitres (Ml)/day in 2005-2006 to 924 Ml/day in 2007-08. However, the regulator considers this level to be higher than the economic level of leakage. Scottish Water has also failed the annual regulatory targets for the reduction of leakage.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Service quality

Infrastructure

History

Financial aspects and efficiency

See also

External links