The Privatization Of Municipal And Bottled Water Sources

“Water Wars: Privatization, Pollution, and Profit” were written by Vandana Shiva, depicting the water issues currently in India and how its shortage may cause a war in the future. Her book is really informative and descriptive to present what water practice in comparison to how they have been used. Shiva also expresses how those problems, which collaborated to methods and process throughout the world in general, specifically in India, as well as on an international level. She uses different involved projects, scientist research and statistical report, which changed over year to support her arguments. She debates about privatization, analyzes the complex of growing industry and agriculture of water, and environment due to community management and ecology that water continues to be used with the unsustainable method. Throughout Water Wars book, Shiva lists various evidences to assist her claims and she still believes that water is a gift from nature so the human has no right to destroy it.

In research, we reviewed national laws and the constitutions of countries across the world, to determine how successful governments were in both acknowledging a human right to water, and enforcing it. Our findings varied, and rather than creating a comprehensive list of water laws by country, I will refer you to The Water Law and Standards Website — a joint

This gives way to the idea of a socially produced scarcity where corporate and private interests for short-term economic growth linked with the rise of corporate power is converting the abundance of a resource into one that is scarce (Shiva, 2002). As such, water private companies should be excluded from water management, and more efforts should be directed towards instilling a "water democracy". She argues that this dichotomy on both sides of the spectrum of the water governance versus privatization debate are a reflecting of equitable versus inequitable distribution. Water scarcity is a reflection of the users that manage it and the systems that are in place to deliver and distribute water from known aquifers. While this may not be true in more drought stressed areas of the world, in a province like Ontario, it certainly is a reflection of governance, not geographic factors. This urges for a decentralized, community-based, democratic water management under which water conservation will be politically, socio-economically, and culturally inspired rather than economically-motivated. A private regime would provide incentives for water conservation through pricing since the perception of scarcity correlates to increased prices. Problems are evident with our current governance system as well as the private sector and P3s are certainly not a

As we all known, humans can survive weeks without foods, but only days without water—for special conditions, only hours. That's why we call water as "blue gold". This "gold" occupies 71% of the Earth and 60% of our bodies and is a rare resource over the world. So what will happen when some private companies control this scare resource? When a private company operates public water facility is often considered as a solution to improve the overall water supply and make water systems more efficient. However, this more often cause some social issues. I will talk about water privatization from two sides.

Water quality and quantity is not only the problem right now with water systems. Some cities are also pushing to have private companies manage their water systems. While some cities are re-municipalizing, taking control back from private companies, their water systems. Treatment and control facilities that channel and treat water from its source in a stable manner are needed. A good way to this is through the development of significant and steady infrastructure. This is done more effectively by the public sector than by private corporations. According to Naficy(Lappé), “There is no end run around building a strong public sector and building strong public oversight.” World Bank is a large supporter of the privatization of utilities but sport a 34% failure rate on their water and sewage contracts(Lappé). This poses a conflict of

Although water is all around, very little is drinkable. Six billion people live on earth and 1.1 billion in 31 countries are unable to access safe, clean drinking water. California has only 20 years of water supply left. Ironically, even the wettest place on earth, Cherrapunji, India, has often water shortages. After years of millions of people dying of thirst and disease, a corporate movement to find a solution to the water crisis has now swept the world. Water, a fleeting resource vital to every life, every single day of the year, is now being taken out of the governments control and becoming a commodity bought and sold by big business, a.k.a privatization.

Albert Szent-Gyorgyi said, “Water is life’s mater and matrix, mother and medium. There is no life without water” (Szent- Gyorgyi, n.d.). However, despite such insight, the human right to water continues to be a growing global discussion. Many argue that the right to water is not listed in the U.S Constitution and therefore is not recognized as a human right. Be that as it may, a majority of people argue that they are endowed with unalienable human rights, and water is a “basic human fundamental in pursuit of life, health, and livelihood” (“The Human Right to Water,” n.d.). In an effort to resolve this conflict, the “United Nations Human Rights Council adopted a resolution affirming the right to safe and clean drinking water as a human right” (Palmer, 2016). The United Nations recognition of water being a basic right in pursuit of livelihood has helped establish international laws and declarations to encourage individual governments all over the world to meet the basic needs for water and sanitation for their people. Water is a sustainable life source that promotes the health of an individual and encourages economic growth. Therefore, water needs to be sufficient, safe, and accessible for every person.

On July 28th, 2010, the United Nations recognized access to safe and clean water and sanitation as human rights (UN News Center). Despite this recognition, there is a growing movement to privatize water utilities ‒ to treat them as a commodity to be sold rather than as a basic human right, and a necessity. Growing rates of privatization led Fortune magazine to claim that “water promises to be to the 21st century what oil was to the 20th century: the precious commodity that determines the wealth of nations” (Tulley, “Water, Water Everywhere”). There is not one instance of a human right being expected to be protected by a private entity in any other industry. The water industry should not be a private sector, yet in 2010 private companies controlled 12% of water utilities world-wide (Masons, 14). While proponents of privatization such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund argue that privatizing these systems are more efficient, and that private companies are better equipped to tackle the challenge of providing water to a growing world, access to water as a right must be protected. The privatization of water has broader implications on the communities that these utilities serve, and have large strides to make in terms of affordability, customer service, and transparency.

Water privatization is private sector provision of water services and sanitation. It is most often credited for turning a public good into a private one. Nearly always plastic water bottles come to mind for many when they think of the topic. This is rightfully so, as due to water privatization, we have companies like Dasani producing these commodities. Water privatization is intended to help aid the depleting freshwater supply yet there is a standing debate on if it actually aids the cause.

Water is a utility service for many people since its treatment, distribution, and recycling is funded by the taxpayer. Water is also a scarce commodity among some communities around the world. Privatization of water would allow firms to make it a profitable venture. Both domestic and global business environments have interesting ethical dilemmas to navigate. Peter Brabeck, the former Nestle CEO noted that water is not a basic human right but a commodity that should be privatized and controlled. Although the Universal Bill of Human Rights declares that withholding the resource takes away human dignity it fails to specifically grant the right to water. However, if water is a basic human right, it should be justly and freely available to all. Therefore, water is a right entitled to all human beings and thus should not be privatized.

Water is a necessary commodity for humans around the globe. People need water in order to survive, and thankfully water is plentiful in most areas around the globe. For some regions, however, water access is limited in amount and cleanliness. To combat this issue, some areas have allowed private companies to take over the water supply and sell the water at a fixed price. The method, known as water privatization, does not benefit the people living in the area; rather, it benefits the company owning and operating the water. Water privatization limits the supply of water and the recipients of the water, but the issue can be resolved with government intervention.

Water is needed for everything, and all human beings and animals need it in order to live. Privatizing water is just another way of stealing. Water cannot be privatized and owned by private corporations whose only concern is to increase their profits.

Water is the most important natural source. There has been activism all over the world to attain governed pricing mechanisms and market transactions due to its mobility and centrality to sustenance of human life. The physical, conceptual, and social plasticity aspects of water as a resource create uncertainty with regard to handling and thus posing critical questions in response to use and management.

Developing effective water sector policies in most countries has been a hard task for the policy makers involved. This has been because of its unique physical properties, the complex economic characteristics and the important cultural features that come with the resource that distinguishes it from other natural resources. Other than this, water resource management has continued to present a lot of complicated administrative issues, and this is because it involves many considerations including legal, technological, environmental, economic and political considerations. In most countries, political and economic considerations have dominated a lot of policy decisions on the use of water resources. Its management largely

A modern state is a set of organisations and institutions related to the function of the government; its role is to provide order, policy, revenue, internal and external representation, and services.1 When the state fails to govern the commons, that is, the land or resources affecting the whole community, private companies take over. Within the past several decades privatization of the freshwater sources and public water systems is widespread worldwide. Yet, private companies provide water guided by the principle of the financial gain and not based on the equal distribution paradigm, and such approach makes poverty-stricken suffer the most, while the wealthy remain intact.