As the world's water becomes scarce and corporations seek to exploit this scarcity for profit, people around the world are losing ownership and control of water resources on which they depend. Water is a human right; to the extent one has the right to live, one has the right to water. Public Citizen's Water for All Campaign is dedicated to protecting water as a common resource, stopping water privatization and bulk water sales, and defending access to clean and affordable water around the world.

A worldwide crisis over water is brewing. According to the United Nations, 31 countries are now facing water scarcity and 1 billion people lack access clean drinking water. Water consumption is doubling every 20 years and yet at the same time, water sources are rapidly being polluted, depleted, diverted and exploited by corporate interests ranging from industrial agriculture and manufacturing to electricity production and mining. The World Bank predicts that by 2025, two-thirds of the world's population will suffer from lack of clean and safe drinking water.

Today, people around the world are losing ownership and control of the water which remains.

Instead of protecting their citizens’ water resources from self-interested profiteers, governments are retreating from their responsibilities and bending to the will of giant transnational corporations that are poised to profit from the shortage of water. Fortune magazine has predicted that "water is the oil of the 21 century," and now corporations are rushing to invest in the new get-rich economy of water. Giant water, energy, food, and shipping companies have plans to buy water rights, privatize publicly-owned water systems, promote bottled water, and sell "bulk" water by transporting it from water rich areas to thirsty markets. At the same time, to ensure maximum profits, these companies are lobbying to weaken water quality standards, and pushing for trade agreements that hand over the U.S. water resources to foreign corporations.

Why oppose privatization of water?

Water privatization schemes throughout the world have a track record of skyrocketing prices, water quality problems, deteriorating service and a loss of local control. 

Privatization advocates argue – usually without any supporting evidence – that switching from publicly owned and operated utilities to private sector firms will lead to greater economic efficiency, stabilized rates, reduced public debt and improved budgetary management.

In reality, privatization more often than not fulfills none of these promises, and instead creates a number of new problems.  Vulnerable to corruption and operating according to a profit-driven corporate agenda fundamentally incompatible with delivering an essential service, private water companies are failing to provide citizens with safe, affordable water. Private corporations seek to increase profit margins by cutting costs; hence privatization is almost always accompanied by lay-offs.

Water Privatization Fiascos

A New Social Experiment?
The role of multinational corporations in providing water and sanitation services is relatively new. In fact, one could say water "privatization" is a global social experiment. Historically, water has been viewed as a public good, not a market commodity. Over the last 200 years, most water utilities have been publicly owned and managed. And, the vast majority of people around the world receive water and sanitation services from publicly owned and operated facilities. Most countries have only recently begun to consider privatization of their water utilities. Only 5% of the world’s water services are run by private companies. Water and sanitation services have been publicly run because private companies were not interested in owning or managing water utilities. There was little or no profit to be made. But, with the specter of growing freshwater scarcity and the prediction that water will be the oil of the 21st century, major global corporations have been moving into the "water market."

Promises made.
The multinational water corporations, their government allies, the IMF, the World Bank and the regional development banks have claimed that water privatization (or public/private partnerships) is the answer. They claim that bringing the private sector into water and sanitation service provision will ensure access to the more than a billion people worldwide who lack clean and affordable water, and the 2.4 billion who lack sanitation services. The water corporations and their allies argue that the private sector is more efficient, cost-effective and competitive. And, the private sector can bring needed financing.

Alternatives to Water Privatization

Water is a basic human right and governments have a responsibility to ensure universal access to water and sanitation services. Water and sanitation services that are publicly funded, managed and operated are the most common approach around the world. This approach has evolved in the course of human history due to the adverse public health outcomes (cholera and other water-borne diseases) when major portions of the population are excluded from access to adequate water and sanitation facilities. The public health literature makes it clear that expanding access to clean water has such great human and economic benefits that it is worth considering having governments provide it at a loss, to be subsidized by other sectors that benefit.

Yet many governments have failed in their obligation to provide universal access to water and sanitation services. This has enabled the World Bank and other international institutions to claim that the public sector is not efficient and cost-effective and the private sector is the answer. Most people are not convinced that the answer can be found in ceding their public water systems to private profit-making corporations. Instead, around the world, local communities have developed their own creative water management solutions. This section will explore a range of dynamic alternative models of publicly-owned or collectively-owned water services that focus on democratic participation, local accountability and community activism.

Public Partnerships
Private companies have offered themselves as the solution, but have not posted a good record. Many cities have concluded that their vital water and wastewater services could be operated more efficiently in the public sphere. A number of communities have reorganized operation and management under local, public control. It has saved money, rewarded employees, maintained or improved water quality and kept money in the community.