2.—(1) The Water Industry Act 1991(1) shall be amended as follows.
(2) In section 7(5) (continuity of appointments, replacement appointments etc.) the following shall be substituted for paragraph (a)—
“(a)the premises are, or are likely to be, supplied with not less than the following quantity of water in any period of twelve months:
(i)if the area of the relevant undertaker concerned is wholly or mainly in Wales, 250 megalitres;
(ii)in all other cases, 100 megalitres; and”.
(3) In section 158 (powers to lay pipes in streets), the following shall be substituted for subsection (9)—
“(9) Where the company which has replaced the relevant undertaker has done so as water undertaker, in the application of this section and section 159 below in relation to that company any pipe supplying, or intended to supply, any of the premises referred to in subsection (8)(c) above with a supply of water which exceeds, or is likely to exceed, in any period of twelve months—
(a)if the area of the relevant undertaker concerned is wholly or mainly in Wales, 250 megalitres;
(b)in all other cases, 100 megalitres,
shall, for the purposes of subsection (7) above, be deemed to be a water main.”.
As inserted by section 40(2) of the Competition and Service (Utilities) Act 1992, section 7(5)(a) provides for a threshold of 250 megalitres of water in relation to both England and Wales. The functions of the Secretary of State under section 7(6) are, so far as exercisable in relation to a water or sewerage undertaker whose area is wholly or mainly in Wales, transferred to the National Assembly for Wales by the National Assembly for Wales (Transfer of Functions) Order 1999 (S.I. 1999/672), article 2; see the entry in Schedule 1 for the Water Industry Act 1991 (substituted by paragraph (e) of Schedule 3 to the National Assembly for Wales (Transfer of Functions) Order 2000 (S.I. 2000/253) (W.5).