Prior to 1973, water and sewerage services in Northern Ireland outside Belfast were the responsibility of local councils.

[1] Whilst water and sewer companies were privatised in England and Wales in 1989, these services remained public in Northern Ireland.

For decades there has been an erroneous belief that domestic water and sewer services in Northern Ireland have been provided without charges to customers.

Subsequent to this, the costs for water usage were assimilated into the domestic rate payable by households.

[2] The announcement of the establishment of a state-owned company was made by Minister of State John Spellar in August 2004.

Later, all major parties in Northern Ireland claimed to have had a leading role in the anti-water charges movement.