§ Mr. Wigleyasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the financial benefit accruing to the Severn-Trent water authority from the sale of processed water to the Welsh water authority.
§ Mr. Giles Shaw:Transfer of water between the two water authorities is on the no profit/no loss principle. No financial benefit accrues to the exporting authority since it is only recovering the cost incurred in providing this treated water.
The Welsh water authority receives treated processed water from the Mitcheldean water treatment works where the capital and operating costs are shared between the two water authorities according to their respective proportions of the total volume of water taken from the works.
§ Mr. Wigleyasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the cost of the purchase of untreated water from the Welsh water authority by the Severn-Trent water authority (a) per 1,000 gallons and (b) in total; and how much was purchased in the last financial year.
§ Mr. Giles ShawThe information required is as follows:
- (a) the standard unit charge is 4.3p per 1,000 gallons but this can vary according to circumstances laid down in the charges schemes for water abstractions operated by the Welsh water authority;
45 - (b) abstraction charges are based on the total quantities licensed and in 1980–81 the licences covered a total quantity of 36,010 million gallons per year. In that year the Severn-Trent water authority paid to the Welsh water authority the sum of £1,538,947 in respect of untreated water.