H2O… and the New Colonialism: The Privatization of Water Supplies
This is not only happening in third world countries… what started in Britain by Margaret Thatcher spread across Europe and has taken over the U.S. too! There are now five (5) publicly traded water companies on the NYSE!!! Just like our prisons… THE NIGHTMARE UNFOLDS AROUND US AND VERY FEW KNOW!!!
Implications of Privatization of Water Utilities:
rate hikes, negative economic impacts, inadequate customer service, harm to natural resources
Overview of Privatization of Water Utilities in the U.S.
- Historically, about half of U.S. water systems were privately owned. That number decreased after World War I due to the availability of government financing. According to the National Association of Water Companies, the proportion of water services in the United States provided by private water companies, whether measured by customers served or volume of water handled, has remained close to 15 percent since World War II.
- In 1995, private- or investor-owned water supply utilities accounted for about 14 percent of total water revenues and for about 11 percent of total water system assets in the United States.
- While municipal water in the United States has been traditionally viewed as a public resource, private management and ownership are on the upswing, particularly by international companies. The market is now estimated at $2.5 billion per year. The French and German conglomerates have been expanding the market of water management services in the United States.
Corporate Players
- The European companies that specialize in the privatization of water services have bought America’s largest private water utilities. United Water Resources was purchased in 2000 by Paris-based Suez, the world’s largest water company. Vivendi, the second-largest French water giant, bought U.S. Filter in 1999 and became a member of the powerful U.S. Coalition of Service Industries through its subsidiary, U.S. Filter. On January 10, 2003, RWE, a German utility conglomerate, purchased American Water Works, which serves 15 million people in 27 states and three Canadian provinces and is the largest publicly-traded water company in the United States.
- European-based utility giants have been bidding aggressively for new contracts to run American water systems. American Water Works, bought by RWE, now controls Illinois-American Water Co. U.S. Filter, owned by Vivendi, treats sewage for Oklahoma City and New Orleans, supplies drinking water to Tampa and Indianapolis, and recycles Honolulu’s wastewater. Suez treats sewage for Indianapolis, Milwaukee, and Springfield, Massachusetts, and supplies drinking water for Pittsburgh, Hoboken, New Jersey, and Plainfield, Indiana, through its United Water subsidiary.
- Private water companies are pushing for legislation to require cash-poor municipal governments to consider privatizing their waterworks in exchange for federal money. From 1995 through 1998, the water utility industry, its employees, and their political action committees, spent less than $500,000 on campaign contributions. But in the last two election cycles from 1999 to 2002, campaign spending more than tripled to roughly $1.5 million. More than half of the sector’s campaign spending came from two large New Jersey-based companies, United Water and American Water Works, both of which are owned by foreign private water companies.
Long-Term Water Contracts and State Actions
The number of water systems that are operated under long-term contracts by private companies has grown from approximately 400 in 1997 to about 1,100 today.Urban utilities can now enter into contracts of up to 20 years for the operation of such systems under liberalized federal tax laws. Vivendi and Suez secured 20-year, billion-dollar contracts in some of America’s largest cities, including Atlanta and Indianapolis. Cities from Camden, New Jersey, to Stockton, California, also have contracted or are looking to contract with these companies.
taken from Water Privatization Fact Pack
Privatizing U.S. Water
Composite map of 16 water quality problems facing the United States
STOP NESTLE WATER
Water Privatization Conflicts
Public Citizen’s Water for All Campaign
There are several excellent documentaries on this issue: Blue Gold, FLOW
