FORT WASHINGTON, PA, April 4, 2005 -- On March 30, Coast to Coast Water Ltd. (C2C), a joint venture of Severn Trent and Costain, began providing water and wastewater services to about 1,500 of the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defense sites in southeastern, eastern and northern England. The work, known as Project Aquatrine, was awarded to C2C last year with the signing of a $1.9 billion, 25-year contract.
Project Aquatrine is the first major public-private partnership in the UK water sector in which water and wastewater services will be provided for a diverse and widely dispersed area outside of the regulated water industry. The contract calls for the transfer of responsibility for the maintenance and operation of the MOD's water and wastewater assets to the private sector while the MOD concentrates on its core defense activities.
Various forms of public-private partnership for water and wastewater systems are being facilitated throughout the U.S. Severn Trent is a leader in this arena, operating facilities under agreements with municipalities at 600 locations. The Project Aquatrine contract, culminated after years of effort, establishes Severn Trent as a major global participant in the advancement of public-private partnerships.
Severn Trent Services CEO and C2C chairman Len Graziano said, "We're excited about getting this groundbreaking work under way. In the five months since the contract was signed, employees from C2C and Severn Trent Services' sister companies have done a tremendous job doing the groundwork for this unique project. While Project Aquatrine is the first partnership of its kind outside the regulated water industry in the United Kingdom, the people of C2C have many years of public-private experience around the world. We're confident that we'll provide excellent value to the Ministry of Defense."
Severn Trent Services (www.severntrentservices.com), based in Fort Washington, Pa., is a leading international environmental services company and the majority partner in the C2C joint venture. IA member of the Severn Trent Plc group of companies, it provides water and wastewater technology, equipment, and services to customers worldwide. The company offers a broad range of products and services concentrated around disinfection, instrumentation, and filtration technologies, pipeline analysis, rehabilitation and repair services, contract operating services and state-of-the-art residential metering products and services. Its international management services business provides support in all aspects of water and wastewater utility development and transformation.
Costain (www.costain.com) is an international engineering and construction group that offers asset management within the water sector. Based in Maidenhead, England, its portfolio includes some of the world's largest and most challenging construction projects, including the Channel Tunnel Rail Link, The Thames Barrier, the new Met Office headquarters, the Diamond Synchrotron and the Tsing Ma Suspension bridge in Hong Kong -- the world's longest combined road and rail bridge.
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