Privatization of Water
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“Instead of protecting existing supplies, enhancing conservation efforts, helping vulnerable populations, curbing pollution and raising public awareness, more and more government officials throughout the world are turning to privatization — transferring the control of this precious resource from the public sector to the private sector” (Public Citizen, N.A)
Here are some of the main reasons privatization of water is not a good idea:
Here are some of the main reasons privatization of water is not a good idea:
- Corporations can raise rates to increase their bottom line. Many times this comes at the expense of people. Water is handled like a commodity, not a resource. (Public Citizen, N.A.)
- Because maintaining higher water qualities costs money, corporations often fight movements to increase laws on quality, which then lowers the quality people are receiving. (Public Citizen, N.A.)
- "In many cases, deals that government agencies make with water companies include exclusive distribution rights for 25 to 30 years, effectively sanctioning a monopoly. Companies are under little pressure to respond to customer concerns, especially when the product in question is not a luxury item that families can do without if they are dissatisfied with the performance of the only provider." (Public Citizen, N.A.)
- "...if a community is dissatisfied with the performance of the company, buying back the water rights is a very difficult and costly proposition." (Public Citizen, N.A.)
- When city water is taken over by corporations, there is often massive layoffs to save money. (Public Citizen, N.A.)
- "Once a government agency hands over its water system to a private company, withdrawing from the agreement borders on the impossible. Proving breach of contract is a difficult and costly ordeal." (Public Citizen, N.A.)
- “Private water companies are unlikely to adopt the same criteria as municipalities when deciding where to extend services. They are prone to cherry-picking service areas to avoid serving low-income communities where low water use and frequent bill collection problems could hurt corporate profits” (F&WW, N.A.)
- -“Investor owned utilities typically charge 33 percent more for water and 63 percent more for sewer service than local government utilities.” (F&WW, N.A.)
- -“After privatization, water rates increase at about three times the rate of inflation, with an average increase of 18 percent every other year.” (F&WW, N.A.)
“Almost 20 years of documented cases of the failure of privatization and growing opposition to the World Bank and the water service companies….revealed a legacy of corruption, sky-high water rates, cutoffs of water to millions, reduced water quality, nepotism, pollution, worker layoffs and broken promises.” (Barlow, 2007).