The company was renamed Veolia Water Central Limited in 2009. In 2012, following the sale of Veolia Water’s UK water supply business, it was merged with [[Veolia Water Southeast]] and [[Veolia Water East]] to form [[Affinity Water]] on 1 October 2012.
The company was renamed Veolia Water Central Limited in 2009. In 2012, following the sale of Veolia Water’s UK water supply business, it was merged with [[Veolia Water Southeast]] and [[Veolia Water East]] to form [[Affinity Water]] on 1 October 2012.
===Colne Valley Water Company===
{{main|Colne Valley Water}}
The Colne Valley Water Company was incorporated by the [[Colne Valley Water Act 1873]] ([[36 & 37 Vict.]] c. lxxx).
It became Colne Valley Water Company plc, and then Colne Valley Water Limited, in 1992.
===Rickmansworth Water Company===
The Rickmansworth Waterworks Company was incorporated by the [[Rickmansworth Waterworks Act 1884]] ([[47 & 48 Vict.]] c. xvii).
It was renamed the Rickmansworth and Uxbridge Valley Water Company by the [[Rickmansworth and Uxbridge Valley Water Act 1885]] ([[48 & 49 Vict.]] c. xx) to reflect an expansion in the area served.
The company was reincorporated as Rickmansworth Water plc in October 1990.
====Amersham, Beaconsfield and District Waterworks Company====
The [[Amersham, Beaconsfield and District Waterworks Company]] was authorised by the [[Amersham, Beaconsfield and District Water Order 1896]] to supply water in part of Buckinghamshire. It was later merged into the Rickmansworth and Uxbridge Valley Water Company.
===Lee Valley Water Company===
The Lee Valley Water Company was incorporated by the ”'{{visible anchor|Lee Valley Water Act 1959}}”’ ([[7 & 8 Eliz. 2]]. c. li). It was formed by a merger of three existing water companies, the [[Barnet District Water Company]], the [[Herts and Essex Water Company]], and the [[Royston Water Company]], together with the water supply of [[Letchworth Garden City]], Knebworth, Hertford, Stevenage, Baldock, Hitchin, Ware, Welwyn Garden City, and Braughing. The company became Lee Valley Water plc in 1992.
The Barnet District Water Company had been formed by the [[Barnet District Gas and Water Act 1872]] ([[35 & 36 Vict.]] c. clxxxix).
The Herts and Essex Water Company was incorporated by the [[Herts and Essex Water Act 1953]] ([[1 & 2 Eliz. 2]]. c. xi), in place of the earlier Herts and Essex Waterworks Company, first authorised to supply water by the [[Herts and Essex Water Order 1879]].
The Royston Water Company was first authorised to supply water by the [[Royston Water Order 1897]].
===North Surrey Water===
The [[Norwood (Middlesex) Waterworks Company]] was authorised to supply water by the Norwood (Middlesex) Water Order 1878.
The ”'{{visible anchor|Sunningdale District Water Company}}”’ was formed by the [[Sunningdale District Water Act 1877]] ([[40 & 41 Vict.]] c. clxii).
The Norwood and Sunningdale companies combined by the [[South West Suburban Water Act 1883]] ([[46 & 47 Vict.]] c. cxlvii) into the ”'{{visible anchor|South West Suburban Water Company}}”’.
It absorbed the ”'{{visible anchor|Woking and District Water Company}}”’ by the [[North Surrey Water Order 1973]] ([[SI 1973]]/1604), which renamed the company the North Surrey Water Company.
==Supply area==
==Supply area==
Veolia Water Central (formerly Three Valleys Water) was a privately owned company supplying water to Hertfordshire and parts of Surrey, North London and Bedfordshire, in England. It was owned by Veolia Environnement, a French company with international interests in the water, waste management, energy and transportation sectors.
Veolia Water Central was sold along with its sister companies Veolia Water Southeast and Veolia Water East to Morgan Stanley and M&G Investments in 2012. The three companies were merged to form Affinity Water on 1 October 2012.
The company was formed as Three Valleys Water in 1994 by the merger of the Colne Valley, Rickmansworth and Lee Valley Water companies. North Surrey Water joined the group in October 2000.
The company was renamed Veolia Water Central Limited in 2009. In 2012, following the sale of Veolia Water’s UK water supply business, it was merged with Veolia Water Southeast and Veolia Water East to form Affinity Water on 1 October 2012.
The area served lay to the north and west of London, including parts of Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex, Middlesex and Surrey.[1]
The company depended heavily upon the local chalk aquifer for its supplies. Eventually due to a combination of lower than average rainfall and growing demand, the aquifer became depleted. This affected the environment as some watercourses become seasonal and domestic users were subject to drought restrictions, for the first time for many years. This may have been a contributing factor in the outbreak of Cryptosporidium parvum in March 1997 when Three Valleys had to ask 300,000 consumers in Hertfordshire and thousands more in the London boroughs of Harrow and Brent to boil water. The health warning also caused the closure of schools in affected areas. The source was never isolated though several water supply boreholes in the Chalk aquifer between St Albans and Bushey contained the pathogen.[2][3]
Hemel Hempstead lay within the company’s area. After the major fire at the Hertfordshire Oil Storage Terminal at Buncefield in December 2005, efforts were made to deal with contaminants to the local aquifer and bore holes.
