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NOSWA Now Part of Scottish Water      Scottish Water Web Site
With little fanfare the new Scottish Water authority came into being last week. 

Scottish Water is a new organisation replacing East of Scotland Water, North of Scotland Water and West of Scotland Water and it provides water and waste water services to household and business customers across one third of the land area of Britain.  Scottish Water will be the 4^th largest water services provider in the UK and the 12^th biggest business in Scotland by turnover.

A new public body which will deliver major improvements to Scotland's water services while keeping water charges to a minimum will be launched this weekend.

Scottish Water will replace Scotland's three former water authorities – East, West and North of Scotland Water - from midnight on Sunday. (March 31)

A pre-launch event, where Scottish Water officials were present, was held to open Inverness Water Treatment Works today.

Uniquely, the new body will have the commercial freedom and flexibility of a private company to ensure it delivers the services that customers expect. However Scottish Water will remain in public ownership, answerable to the Scottish Parliament.

Chair of the new organisation, Professor Alan Alexander, said Scottish Water had been set up specifically to deliver the huge investment needed to modernise Scotland's public water and sewerage services at the lowest possible cost to water charge payers.

He said: "Scottish Water is much more than a merger of the former water authorities.

"Nearly £2 billion needs to be invested between now and 2006 to ensure Scotland's public water and sewerage services will meet the standards required by water quality and environmental protection laws.

"Scottish Water will also be self-funding but we will also have the freedom to operate competitively and earn new income. By combining the strength of the outgoing water authorities while, as a single organisation, operating more efficiently, Scottish Water will be able to deliver significant cost savings.

"And every pound we can save is a pound that doesn't have to come from charges."

Chief Executive Dr Jon Hargreaves added that Scottish Water would play an important role in the country's economic life, improving the quality of the environment and investing up to £2bn over four years, putting money back into the Scottish economy.

"We will be the fourth largest water services provider in the UK and the 12th largest business in Scotland by turnover.."

He added: "The hand-over to Scottish Water is an important new development for the public water service in Scotland. However its core task of supplying the local water and waste water service to homes and businesses across Scotland, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, will not change.

"And as Scottish Water develops, people will have improved levels of service, drinking water quality and higher standards of environmental protection."