Thames Water Authority

The Thames Water Authority was one of ten regional water authorities created in the UK on 1 April 1974 under the provisions of the Water Act 1973 to bring together all the water management functions of the region in one public body.

Predecessors
The bodies subsumed by the Thames Water Authority included the Metropolitan Water Board, the Thames Conservancy, the Lee Conservancy Catchment Board and parts of the Essex and Kent River authorities. It also took over water and sewage responsibility from the following water suppliers in the Thames catchment:


 * Colne Valley Water Company
 * Cotswold Water Board
 * Croydon Corporation
 * East Surrey Water Company
 * Epsom and Ewell Corporation
 * Lee Valley Water Company
 * Mid Southern Water Company
 * Middle Thames Water Board
 * Oxfordshire and District Water Board
 * Rickmansworth and Uxbridge Valley Water Company
 * South West Suburban Water Company
 * Sutton District Water Company
 * Swindon Corporation
 * Thames Valley Water Board
 * Watford Corporation
 * West Surrey Water Board
 * Woking and District Water Company

Dissolution
In 1989 the Thames Water Authority was partly privatised, under the provisions of the Water Act 1989 with the water and sewage responsibilities transferring to the newly established publicly quoted company of Thames Water, and the regulatory, land drainage and navigation responsibilities transferring to the newly created National Rivers Authority which later became the Environment Agency.