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From the Newsletter- October 2004 |
BRISTOL WATER PROUD TO SUPPORT AWARDS
Supporting the Bristol Civic Society Environmental Awards was a natural development for a company like Bristol Water. We are an integral part of Bristol's past, present and future and we are proud to be associated with Awards that recognise and reward real environmental achievements in our City.
A glimpse at our history explains our desire to support the communities we serve:
Today, well over one million people and businesses in an area of 1,000 square miles centred on Bristol depend on us for their water supply. Bristol Water is one of the largest and most successful independent 'water only' companies in the country.
On every level, from water quality through to leakage figures, we are recognised as being amongst the best in the industry.
Over 150 years ago, though, when the fledgling Bristol Waterworks Company was formed, it had a huge amount to do to prove itself.
The need for a local water company to organise supply and distribution was glaringly obvious. At the time, Bristol, the country's second most important port city, boasted 22,000 households and 130,000 people. Yet while it was at the forefront of the region's commerce, it still depended for its water supplies on a network of conduits and wells dating back to medieval times.
The wealthy paid for water to be carried to them; the poor fetched what they needed from the public wells. Even when the water was available, it was of very doubtful quality. Typhoid, cholera and dysentery were rife. In 1840, a high-level Government Commission recorded that "there are few if any large towns in England in which the water supply is as inadequate as Bristol".
It was against this background that local businessmen launched the Bristol Waterworks Company, formed by Act of Parliament on 16th July 1846. Only a year later, good, clean spring water from the Mendips began to flow into the city. This was achieved by a triumph of Victorian engineering which is still in use today -- the 16 km Line of Works, an aqueduct and conduit some 30 inches in diameter which links Mendip springs with the Barrow reservoirs.
That's how our story began. Today, we supply an average of around 300 million litres a day through 6,500 kilometres of water mains.
Bristol Water is proud of its heritage and the role it has played in the development of the region. We invest a great deal in supporting the many communities we serve, not just by giving charitable donations to a wide range of organisations but also providing practical sponsorship for many community ventures (over 40 last year alone).
Long before 'corporate social responsibility' became fashionable, Bristol Water recognised its environmental, social and ethical responsibilities. We deliver one of the most essential of all the essential services. In doing so, we recognize the impacts of our activities on the wider society and seek to make these as sustainable and positive as possible.
Jeremy Williams
Head of Corporate Affairs, Bristol Water plc
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