Severn Trent Water is the group's largest operation and one of the UK's leading water and sewerage companies. Its strategy is to out-perform the regulatory contract in terms of operating and capital expenditure, and the cost of borrowing, while expanding its range of products outside the regulated sector. This includes seeking new business from commercial and industrial customers outside its region and extending its product range to existing customers.

More than eight million people living and working in the heart of Britain, from mid-Wales to Rutland and from the Bristol Channel to the Humber, rely on Severn Trent for supplies of high quality drinking water and waste water services. Nearly two billion litres a day of water are brought to homes and businesses through 46,000 km of pipes, and a further 54,000 km of sewers take the waste water away to be cleaned and safely returned to rivers and streams through more than 1,000 sewage works.

Severn Trent Water not only works to protect the environment, but also to promote enjoyment of the resources they are responsible for. That means maintaining over 1,200 km of footpaths and Rights of Way, planting well over a million trees since 1989, and making access easier to recreational sites which receive over four million visits a year.

Key facts

• Top-performing water and sewerage company in Ofwat's latest Overall Performance Assessment.
• Supplies nearly two billion litres drinking water a day to over three million households and businesses.
• Invested more than £452 million in 2004/05
• Turnover 2004/05 £1,015 million.
• 5,106 employees.

For further information please visit www.stwater.co.uk