5 reasons, why water supply should be in public hands
The UN-member states have set themselves the goal of achieving universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water and adequate sanitation for everyone by 2030.
1. HUMAN RIGHTS
Clean drinking water is a human right. As a vital commodity, drinking water ought to be accessible to the entire population at an affordable price.
2. WATER IS USED TO MAKE MONEY
The supply of precious clean drinking water is increasingly being misused to achieve the greatest possible profit for the private sector. Unfortunately, the peak of this development has manifested itself in companies pumping out groundwater in countries of the Global South, which had previously been used by the public at relatively low prices. Nowadays though this commodity has been turned into just another good, expensively sold to the population as if it were just another good out of many.
3. AFFORDABILITY
Private companies do not manage water more effectively than the public sector. On the contrary, there is a long list of examples where consumer prices have risen considerably following privatization and where the maintenance of pipes and infrastructure has been neglected in order to increase the profits of the new, now private owners.
4. QUALITY
Studies show that the quality of drinking water is higher when it is supplied by the public sector because the public sector invests more in maintaining and improving pipes and other infrastructure. Higher investments in the maintenance and improvement of existing water pipes has the positive side effect of reducing the loss of water that would otherwise occur due to leaking pipes.
5. INVESTMENTS
Private stakeholders tend to take over the water supply for a limited period of time. Investing in infrastructure with the aim of securing high-quality long-term performance is therefore not a priority for the private sector. Numerous examples show that the investments made by private companies in infrastructure are not sufficient, resulting not only in higher water losses due to dilapidated water pipes, that have not been renovated, but also in an increase of the volume of chemically treated water.
Study Remunicipalization in Europe (2019)
Factsheet 5 reasons why water supply should be in public hands (ÖGPP)