Water for Sale - Who's Making Money on Your Water?

Did you know that in many parts of the world, every continent in fact, every drop of water puts money in the pockets of some of the world's largest multinational corporations? In fact, water if being referred to "blue gold" and predicted to be the "petroleum of the 21st century".

The world's private water industry is thriving and growing and it's dominated by three companies - Vivendi and Suez, both of France and Thames Water of England owned by German conglomerate RWE.

Just 10 years ago, these companies operated private water supplies in just 12 countries, now they operate in over 56 countries, including both the USA and Canada.

Peter Spillett, a senior executive with Thames Water, calls water the petroleum of the 21st century.

"There's huge growth potential," he says. "There will be world wars fought over water in the future. It's a limited, precious resource, so the growth market is always going to be there."

Here are some of the results of the privatization of water supply in various parts of the world:

Atlanta, Georgia, USA

On January 1, 1999 The City of Atlanta turned over day-to-day operations of its water system to United Water, the American subsidiary of Suez. The 20-year contract was worth $420 million US to United Water.

In 2003 Atlanta's Mayor Shirley Franklin called a press conference to announce that the deal was dead.

"I stand here today with Mr. Michael Chesser, chairman and CEO of United Water Services, to announce that the City of Atlanta and United Water have jointly agreed to dissolve the contract under which United Water has run the city's water system since January 1, 1999."

The mayor said Atlanta will once again run the water system itself, safely.

Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Repeated main water line breaks have occurred. In 1996, there was a spill, which was was mixed with sewage. It was sewage and a lot of it. In fact, the January 1996 spill was one of the biggest sewage spills ever in Ontario. Millions of litres of stinking raw sewage spewed into people's homes, Hamilton harbour and Lake Ontario.

The city blamed Philips for the mess. Philips Utilities was the original private operator of Hamilton's water works.

More spills in 1997, 1998 and 1999.

Cochabamba, Bolivia

In November, 1999, a consortium, controlled by U.S. multinational Bechtel, signed a 40-year deal to increase water supplies and services to Cochabamba, Bolivia. By January, 2000 water bills were skyrocketing. Four months later, rioting Bolivians chased the company out of the country.

Water is becoming a more lucrative commodity than oil. The supply of water is not infinite and there are moves afoot to start selling water.

One such plan is to sell lake water from Newfoundland to European countries. Another is to export water from Canada to the US.

Can we depend on a water supply that is run by big business with profits being the name of the game? What do you think?


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