This policy explains what cookies are, how Portsmouth Water uses them, and how you can control them. Portsmouth Water remains committed to protecting your privacy and being transparent about how your data is used in line with the UK GDPR, DPA 2018, the PEC Regulation, and guidance from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).
What are cookies?
When you visit any website, it may store or retrieve information on your browser in the form of cookies. This information might be about you, your preferences or your device and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to. The information doesn’t usually directly identify you, but it can give you a more personalised web experience. We respect your right to privacy, so you can choose not to allow some cookies. Select your cookie preferences below. Blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience of the site and the services we can offer.
Most web browsers allow some control of cookies through browser settings. More information about cookies, including how to block and/or delete them, via a range of common browsers, can be found at www.allaboutcookies.org.
Managing your preferences
How do I change my cookie settings on the Portsmouth Water website?
You can change your cookie preferences at any time by clicking on the cookie icon on the bottom left corner of the screen. You can then manage your preferences and adjust the available sliders to ‘On’ or ‘Off’ as required. You may need to refresh your page for your settings to take effect.
How do I change my cookie settings on the Portsmouth Water online customer portal?
You can change your cookie preferences at any time by clicking on ‘Reset Cookie Settings’ at the bottom of the screen. You can then revisit the cookie settings shown and update as required.
How we use cookies
When you use our website or online customer portal we may analyse basic information about your activity.
This information will provide us with general information about the users of our website, providing us a better understanding of user requirements. We will not attempt to attribute such traffic information to anything that is personally identifiable.
Types of cookies we use at portsmouthwater.co.uk
We group cookies into various categories, currently:
- Necessary Cookies
- Functional Cookies
- Analytics Cookies
- Performance Cookies
- Targeting Cookies
- Other Cookies
Descriptions of each category are included in the table below.
What happens if I do not want to accept cookies?
If you do not wish to accept our cookies you can continue to use our website and online customer portal, but it means we won’t be able to use your visit to help us improve your experience. The cookie policy will continue to be visible, as it takes a cookie to remember that you don’t accept cookies.
How do I delete cookies?
If you wish to restrict or block the cookies which are set by the Portsmouth Water website and/or online customer portal, or indeed any other website, you can do this through your browser settings. The ‘Help’ function within your browser should tell you how.
Alternatively, you may wish to visit www.aboutcookies.org which contains comprehensive information on how to do this on a wide variety of browsers. You will also find details on how to delete cookies from your computer as well as more general information about cookies. For information on how to do this on the browser of your mobile phone you will need to refer to your handset manual.
The cookies we use on our website:
Cookies remain on your device for varying lengths of time:
Session cookies – deleted when you close your browser.
Persistent cookies – remain until they expire or you delete them. Expiry periods are shown in the table below.
The table below explains the cookies we use and why:
Necessary
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off. They're usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site won't work. These cookies don't store any personally identifiable information.
| Cookie | Duration | Description |
|---|---|---|
| wt_consent | 6 months | Used for remembering users’ consent preferences to be respected on subsequent site visits. It does not collect or store personal information about visitors to the site. |
| rc::a | never | This cookie is set by the Google recaptcha service to identify bots to protect the website against malicious spam attacks. |
| rc::c | session | This cookie is set by the Google recaptcha service to identify bots to protect the website against malicious spam attacks. |
| VISITOR_PRIVACY_METADATA | 6 months | YouTube sets this cookie to store the user's cookie consent state for the current domain. |
Functional
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you don't allow these cookies then some or all of these services may not function properly.
| Cookie | Duration | Description |
|---|---|---|
| VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE | 6 months | A cookie set by YouTube to measure bandwidth that determines whether the user gets the new or old player interface. |
| yt-remote-connected-devices | never | YouTube sets this cookie to store the user's video preferences using embedded YouTube videos. |
| ytidb::LAST_RESULT_ENTRY_KEY | never | The cookie ytidb::LAST_RESULT_ENTRY_KEY is used by YouTube to store the last search result entry that was clicked by the user. This information is used to improve the user experience by providing more relevant search results in the future. |
| yt-remote-device-id | never | YouTube sets this cookie to store the user's video preferences using embedded YouTube videos. |
| yt-remote-session-name | session | The yt-remote-session-name cookie is used by YouTube to store the user's video player preferences using embedded YouTube video. |
| yt-remote-fast-check-period | session | The yt-remote-fast-check-period cookie is used by YouTube to store the user's video player preferences for embedded YouTube videos. |
| yt-remote-session-app | session | The yt-remote-session-app cookie is used by YouTube to store user preferences and information about the interface of the embedded YouTube video player. |
| yt-remote-cast-available | session | The yt-remote-cast-available cookie is used to store the user's preferences regarding whether casting is available on their YouTube video player. |
| yt-remote-cast-installed | session | The yt-remote-cast-installed cookie is used to store the user's video player preferences using embedded YouTube video. |
| __lc_cid | 1 year 1 month 4 days | This is an essential cookie for the website live chat box to function properly. |
| __lc_cst | 1 year 1 month 4 days | This cookie is used for the website live chat box to function properly. |
| __oauth_redirect_detector | 1 minute | This cookie is used to recognize the visitors using live chat at different times inorder to optimize the chat-box functionality. |
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics such as the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
| Cookie | Duration | Description |
|---|---|---|
| _cs_same_site | session | Used by Contentsquare to check browser support for the SameSite cookie security attribute and is immediately removed after use. |
| _ga | 1 year 1 month 4 days | Google Analytics sets this cookie to calculate visitor, session and campaign data and track site usage for the site's analytics report. The cookie stores information anonymously and assigns a randomly generated number to recognise unique visitors. |
| _ga_* | 1 year 1 month 4 days | Google Analytics sets this cookie to store and count page views. |
| YSC | session | YSC cookie is set by Youtube and is used to track the views of embedded videos on Youtube pages. |
| _cs_t | session | Used by Contentsquare to check browser cookie support and is promptly deleted; does not store identifying data. |
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
| Cookie | Duration | Description |
|---|---|---|
| __utma | 1 year 1 month 4 days | Google Analytics sets this cookie to distinguish users and sessions. The cookie is created when the JavaScript library executes and there are no existing __utma cookies. The cookie is updated every time data is sent to Google Analytics. |
| __utmc | session | Google Analytics sets this cookie to enable interoperability with urchin.js, an older version of Google Analytics and is used in conjunction with the __utmb cookie to determine new sessions/visits. It is deleted when the user closes the browser. |
| __utmz | 6 months | Google Analytics sets this cookie to store the traffic source or campaign by which the visitor reached the site. |
| __utmt | 10 minutes | Google Analytics sets this cookie to inhibit the request rate. |
| __utmb | 1 hour | Google Analytics sets this cookie to determine new sessions/visits. __utmb cookie is created when the JavaScript library executes and there are no existing __utma cookies. It is updated every time data is sent to Google Analytics. |
Targeting
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not collect personal data but use information on your unique browser and internet device. If you don't allow these cookies, you'll experience less targeted advertising.
| Cookie | Duration | Description |
|---|---|---|
| _gcl_au | 3 months | Google Tag Manager sets this cookie to experiment advertisement efficiency of websites using their services. |
| yt.innertube::nextId | never | YouTube sets this cookie to register a unique ID to store data on what videos from YouTube the user has seen. |
| yt.innertube::requests | never | YouTube sets this cookie to register a unique ID to store data on what videos from YouTube the user has seen. |
Others
Other cookies are those that are being identified and have not been classified into any category as yet.
| Cookie | Duration | Description |
|---|---|---|
| __Secure-ROLLOUT_TOKEN | 6 months | This cookie is used by YouTube to manage the phased rollout of new features and interface changes. It helps Google determine which experimental features or updates are shown to certain users, ensuring consistency during tests and software updates across different sessions and devices. |
| __Secure-YEC | past | This cookie is set by YouTube to detect and prevent spam, bot traffic, and abuse. It is also used to store and track interactions, preferences, and device information related to the user’s activity with embedded YouTube content |
| ab-variant-rewards | 1 month | Description is currently not available. Cookie is set by myaccount.portsmouthwater.co.uk and only when the online account portal is visited. |
The cookies we use on our online customer portal:
The table below explains the cookies we use on our online customer portal and why:
| Cookie | Name | Purpose | More |
| Google Analytics | _ga | These cookies are used to collect information in an anonymous form about how people use the online portal, including the number of visitors to the portal, where visitors have come to the portal from and the pages they visited. This allows us to make sure the portal is meeting your needs and help us understand what we could improve. | Click here for an overview of privacy at Google |
| Customer Portal | dismissCookieBanner | This cookie is used to track the acceptance of the cookie banner. | |
| Customer Portal | SNOOZE_ACCOUNT_ENRICHMENT | This cookie is used to track the account ‘enrichment banner’ which prompts a portal user to add missing information (e.g., a mobile or email address).
|
|
| Datadog RUM | _dd_s | These cookies help collect data on user interactions, performance, and potential issues in real-time. It allows us to monitor how the portal is performing and detect issues. |
Click here for an overview of privacy at Datadog. |
Changes to this policy
We may update this Cookie Policy to reflect changes in technology, law, or our practices. Please check back regularly for the latest version.
Last updated: September 2025