WRcWRc WRc The WRc Group is a company providing research and consultancy in water, waste and the environment in the United Kingdom. A government body set up in 1927 was merged in the 1970s with the Water Research Association and the Water Resouces Board to form the Water Research Centre, which was controlled by the regional water authorities; the organisation was privatised in 1989 as WRc plc, then acquired by RSK Group in 2020. History. The organisation was created in 1927 by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR) as the Water Pollution Research Board (WPRB). The Board had no  laboratories and fulfilled its remit of providing research and advice on sewage treatment by outsourcing and conducting surveys. Laboratory facilities finally became available in 1940 when DSIR set up the Water Pollution Research Laboratory (WPRL) in Watford. During the Second World War WPRL also worked in other areas, notably the creation of a device for airmen to make sea water acceptable as drinking water. In 1955 the WPRL moved to a purpose-built laboratory in Stevenage, and here it is associated with the first systematic analyses of sewage treatment. Following the 1974 reorganisation of the UK water supply industry both  WPRL and the Water Resources Board (WRB) were hived off from the Civil Service and merged with the Water Research Association (WRA) to form a quango, controlled by the publicly-owned regional water authorities. The WRA had been founded in 1953 and provided research and advice on drinking water treatment to the municipal bodies responsible for drinking water supply; it was based at Medmenham, Buckinghamshire. The new organisation was renamed the Water Research Centre (WRC). In 1989 the Water Research Centre was privatised and renamed WRc plc, as part of the privatisation of the UK water industry. As part of  the process a small offshoot, the Foundation for Water Research (FWR), was created and the Stevenage site was shut down. In 2004 the Medmenham site was also closed, leaving Swindon as WRc's main site. The WRc Group employs around 150 staff. Until 2020, its shares were mainly owned by its staff and UK water companies; it was then acquired by the RSK Group. Achievements. Notable WRc achievements include: 1960s 1970s 1980s Today. Today WRc works with a range of customers in the public and private sectors around the world. Its clients include: WRc The WRc Group is a company