Northumbrian Water A reflection on water

he roots of Limited are firmly leader was also a clean water crusader, and he was based in the North East, with its head office being instrumental in the construction of the reservoir at located at , on the outskirts of Durham City. Wearhead. But whilst his name was given to Peterlee on the T Serving more than 2.7 East Durham coast (one of the million customers in an area 1950s post-war new towns), the stretching from the Scottish story of water supply to this area borders to , not goes much further back in history. only is Northumbrian Water one of the largest employers in the In the second half of the 19th Durham area, it is also the century there were several largest environmental company developments in the supply of in the region, committed to water to Durham and surrounding creating a cleaner, safer and areas. In 1860, a group of local healthier environment for future gentlemen formed the Consett generations. A further 1.8 million Waterworks Company, mainly to customers in the South East of supply the three ironworks in the also benefit from the experience of Northumbrian Consett district and the local population of approximately Water, under the brand name of Essex & Suffolk Water. 20,000. Whilst initially most of the water needed was obtained from springs on Muggleswick Moor and from open catchwaters, The company that we know today has a long and varied by 1872 the Smiddy Shaw reservoir had been completed; history - its northern assets include reservoirs high up in the Hisehope reservoir following in 1906. Northumbrian hills and down deep in the Tees Valley.

There is one name that is synonymous with the Durham Above: Dalton pumping station circa 1900s. Below: Durham area's water supply - that of Peter Lee. The Durham miners’ County Water Board, circa 1920.

98 The and Water Company (S&SSWC) had come into being in 1852; it relied mainly on underground supplies from the Permian series of limestones along the coastal areas of , and . Many ornate pumping stations were constructed during this time, the majority of which are still standing, although their vastness is no longer a true representation of the modern, and very much smaller, equipment that they now house. As this source of water became fully exploited, a joint venture between DCWB and S&SSWC resulted in the In 1865 a second company was using the great construction of the Burnhope water resources of the moors, with the Waskerley reservoir (1930-1936) in and Tunstall reservoirs being constructed in 1879- Weardale. 80. By 1902 these two smaller companies had amalgamated to become the Weardale and The reservoir was jointly Consett Water Company and by 1914 were owned but managed by supplying an area of approximately 412 square DCWB. However, the miles, including 111 parishes, 22 rural and urban companies' roles were councils, and most significantly, the City of Durham. reversed in a second joint venture, the Derwent reservoir, near Consett, which was jointly owned but constructed and managed In the run up to 1919, there was an increase in the population by S&SSWC. and industry flourished in the area, both of which lead to greater demands on the company. By the end of the first world war, The current company was formed out of many mergers and those responsible for the wellbeing of the county had decided changes in legislation. In 1974, the government formed ten that a public enterprise, rather than private company, was regional water authorities in England and , which needed and in July 1919, the Durham County Water Board meant that DCWB became part of the Northumbrian Water (DCWB) was formed. The DCWB was made up of Authority (NWA). representatives from the area’s county, rural and urban councils, with Peter Lee as chairman. Many of the developments in water Top left: Peter Lee cutting the first sod for Burnhope supply to the Durham area are still attributed to the vision, reservoir. Above: A plaque in commemoration of Peter Lee. courage and foresight of Peter Lee. Below: Burnhope reservoir’s gauge house.

99 The year 1989 saw the privatisation of the . NWA On October 14, 2011, plc (NWG), changed its name to Northumbrian Water Group (NWG) and the company’s controlling party at the time, was acquired by UK was floated on the stock exchange. Around the same time, the Water (2011) Limited (UKW). Shares in NWG were delisted giant French company Lyonnaise des Eaux (LdE) bought the from the London Stock Exchange on the same date and it was S&SSWC and Newcastle and Gateshead Water Company re-registered as a private limited company under the name (N&GWC), merging them in 1992 to form North East Water Northumbrian Water Group Limited. UKW is wholly owned by a (NEW). It was in 1996 that LdE purchased the majority of consortium comprising Cheung Kong Infrastructure shares in NWG and merged it with NEW, Holdings Limited, Cheung Kong (Holdings) forming the new Northumbrian Water Limited and Li Ka Shing Foundation Group. However, life in the water Limited. industry is seldom static, and in 2003, SUEZ (as LdE was now Northumbrian Water was called) announced that it was to recognised as one of the sell 75% of its share holding, world’s most ethical which resulted in the company companies in 2011, earning a being floated once again on the place on the Ethishphere stock exchange. Institute’s World’s most ethical companies list. World-wide there Heidi Mottram OBE was appointed as were only 110 companies on the list, Chief Executive Officer in 2010, having only five UK-based companies and, of moved from Northern Rail Limited where she was these, Northumbrian Water was the only UK utility to Managing Director for five years. Earlier that year she was be listed. The company has retained its place on the list every named Rail Business Manager of the Year at the annual Rail year since 2011. Business Awards for being “an inspirational leader who makes a huge personal difference to passengers and employees." The Northumbrian Water Group currently owns and operates 32 Heidi took up the position at Northumbrian Water following the impounding (or catchment) reservoirs, 43 water treatment works retirement of John Cuthbert. and 268 service (or treated water storage) reservoirs. Water is supplied to customers using gravity in the first instance, along nearly 17,000km of water main, although it also has 250 pumping stations should gravity need a helping hand.

In 2005, Northumbrian Water invested £34million constructing the water treatment works at

Top left: An aerial view of Burnhope reservoir. Top centre: Wear Valley water treatment works. Top right: An aerial view of of Dawdon sewage treatment works. Left: Bran Sands wastewater treatment works. Centre page: Bran Sands aerator tanks.

100 Since its establishment in 1995 the Bran Sands facility has won many environmental awards.

Since 2002, everyone at Northumbrian Water has been able to take part in the company’s ‘Just an hour’ volunteering scheme. People can sign up to take part in community activities such as beach clean-ups, garden makeovers, painting and DIY at community centres or marshalling at charity events during normal working hours. Since it began, the volunteer workforce has done more than 89,000 hours of unpaid work for good causes. In 2013, a total of 1,651 people, which is more than half of the Northumbrian Water workforce, participated in Just an hour, contributing 16,132 working hours to support 728 organisations.

WaterAid, founded in 1981, is the adopted charity of the Burnhope Reservoir in the heart of the Durham Dales – a British water industry and raises funds to finance projects in designated North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. some of the poorest communities in the world in Africa, Asia, Central America and the Pacific Region. Shocking statistics The Wear Valley water treatment works was designed to show that around 2,000 children die every day from diseases minimise its impact on, and to blend into, the landscape. Over caused by dirty water and poor sanitation. More than 750 million two-thirds of the facility is below ground and one-third is buried people in the world live without safe water - this is roughly one into the adjacent hillside, significantly reducing the visible eighth of the world's population - and 2.5 billion people live footprint. The remaining elements above ground were designed without sanitation; this is 39% of the world's population. By in a style to reflect the style of a farmstead and small settlements 2013, Northumbrian Water had contributed £5 million in typical of Upper Weardale. fundraising for WaterAid.

The project gave great importance to landscape design and So next time you turn your tap on, think of Peter Lee and his habitat creation. The planting incorporated into the vision to bring clean water to the people of Durham - and raise landscape design scheme was chosen to encourage a wide your glass to him and the many who have followed in his range of wildlife, including nesting and foraging birds. footsteps. However, Northumbrian Water does not only deal with clean water, it is also responsible for sewerage services to its Top left: Volunteers at work for the ‘Just an hour’ scheme. 2.7 million customers in the north east. Sewage (or Below: WaterAid, working in 27 countries and with plans in wastewater as it is sometimes called) is collected through a place to expand this to 30 by 2015. series of more than 30,000km of sewers and taken to one of 426 sewage treatment works, assisted, where necessary, by more than 600 sewage pumping stations.

The Durham area is particularly well served, with the Barkers Haugh sewage treatment works sitting on the banks of the in the midst of the city itself; other works are based in the surrounding areas. After intensive treatment, the treated water from the sewage is returned to the environment, whilst the sewage sludge is transported by road tanker and ship to the Bran Sands treatment centre on . The award- winning wastewater treatment works, with its leading advanced anaerobic digestion plant, at Teesport, uses an innovative, natural biological process to convert the sludge remaining after sewage treatment into electricity to power the site.

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