science

Portsmouth Water

Portsmouth Water is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Portsmouth Water rather than just read about it. In short: Portsmouth Water is the utility company responsible for water supply and distribution in the City of Portsmouth, part of East Hampshire and part of West Sussex. Places served include Gosport, Fareham, Portsmouth, Havant, Chichester, and Bognor Regis.

Key takeaways

Portsmouth Water belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Portsmouth Water to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Portsmouth Water from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Portsmouth Water is the utility company responsible for water supply and distribution in the City of Portsmouth, part of East Hampshire and part of West Sussex. Places served include Gosport, Fareham, Portsmouth, Havant, Chichester, and Bognor Regis. The company is a private limited company. It was acquired by Ancala in March 2018.

History

The company was created on 13 July 1857 by the Borough of Portsmouth Waterworks Act 1857 (20 & 21 Vict. c. xlv) as the Borough of Portsmouth Waterworks Company to supply Portsmouth. In being formed it acquired the assets of the existing United Portsmouth, Portsea and Farlington Waterworks Company. This had been formed in 1828 by the merger of the Portsmouth and Farlington Waterworks Company, created by the Portsmouth Water Supply (Farlington) Act 1740 (14 Geo. 2. c. 43), and the Portsea Island Waterworks Company, formed in 1809 by the Portsmouth and Portsea Water Act 1809 (49 Geo. 3. c. cxviii).

The Gosport Waterworks Company was founded by the Gosport Waterworks Act 1858 (21 & 22 Vict. c. v). The Borough of Portsmouth Waterworks Company merged with the Gosport Waterworks Company in 1955. A new headquarters in Havant was opened in September 1967. On 3 June 2021, Havant Borough Council approved Portsmouth Water's plans for a reservoir at Havant Thicket.

Overview There are now 18 borehole sites throughout the catchment area from the South Downs groundwater and the natural springs in Havant and Bedhampton. There are up to 25 springs used at any one time producing up to 170 million litres per day.

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography Neve, Andy; Hedges, Mike (2007). Portsmouth Water 1857-2007: 150 Years of Service. Havant, England: Portsmouth Water. ISBN 978-0-9556045-0-8.

External links Official website

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Portsmouth Water

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Portsmouth Water claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Portsmouth Water before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Portsmouth Water ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Portsmouth Water

In research: Portsmouth Water appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Portsmouth Water in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Portsmouth Water is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1857 establishments in the United Kingdom, Companies based in Portsmouth, Companies based in West Sussex, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Portsmouth Water outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Portsmouth Water in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Portsmouth Water means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Portsmouth Water out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Portsmouth Water in simple terms?

Why does Portsmouth Water matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Portsmouth Water?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Portsmouth Water.