Over the next 50 years the world’s population is expected to expand from 6.5 billion to approximately 9 billion. Since we are already using many of our natural resources to their limits, it’s only a matter of time before they become much more expensive and harder to obtain. Most of us have heard that peak production has already been passed at many of the major oil fields, and that some day — sooner rather than later — oil will not be a viable energy source. But we can survive without oil.
Sure it would involve an extreme reworking of day to day life as we know it (our current industrial food system would probably collapse), or as-yet-undiscovered technological breakthroughs in the field of alternative fuels, but humankind would survive a life without oil. But a life without fresh water? That’s a different story. And as water increasingly becomes a precious commodity, private companies are looking to buy up many public water systems around the globe.
About 85 percent of people living in the U.S. are currently serviced by publicly run water systems. But with the water supply market expected to grow around 20 percent over the next five years, private companies are looking to buy up public water systems in countries where clean water demand is strong. Areas at the top of the list include the Middle East, China, and North Africa. The United States is another area where large growth is expected due in large part to municipal water systems being unable to afford the major upgrades needed to repair and upgrade infrastructure.
So what’s wrong with letting these companies come in and buy our public water companies? If you ask Bolivians, they’ll tell you that two months after Aguas del Tunari, a company owned by the multinational corporation Bechtel, took over their water supply in November of 1999, water bills skyrocketed and the people took to the streets. By April of 2000, after months of protests (in which around 100 people were injured by government troops and one young man was killed) and deciding between paying for water or eating, the people of Cochabamba, Bolivia forced Aguas del Tunari out of the country.
When you privatize a commodity, the company aims to make a profit from it, and that company can only make a profit if the consumers pay for it. That means that water, a basic necessity for human life, ends up as something that only the rich can afford. As David Boys, a member of the UN Secretary General’s Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation, told CBCnews, “Your clients are captive because they can’t decide, ‘Well, I’m not going to buy water anymore, I’m not going to turn my tap on.’ You can’t do that. You can switch from Coke to Pepsi but you can’t switch from water to… what?’”
We all know how the politics of privatized water will work in the United States. If corporations are allowed to own water, then their lobbyists will be in Washington fighting for bigger tax breaks, lax regulations, and the ability to raise prices. All of this translates to more financial hardships and less control for the American people.
Right now there are hundreds of public utilities in the U.S. believed to be discussing water services with private companies. We should learn a lesson from the people of Cochabamba, Bolivia, Felton, CA, and Atlanta, GA, and not put our basic right to water into the hands of corporations that are more interested in profit than the well-being of people.
See also: 5 Fascinating Infographics About Water
Image via Keith Bacongo
