|
The water barons
A look at the world's top water companies
Bob Carty, CBC Radio | Feb. 3, 2003
When you turn on the tap or flush the toilet in an increasingly larger number of countries around the world, you're increasing the profit line for some of the world's largest multinational corporations.
The world's private water industry is dominated by just three corporations:
Vivendi and Suez, both of France, and Thames Water of England, owned by the German conglomerate RWE.
Send your thoughts about this report
"There will be world wars fought over water in the future."
For the past decade, the three water companies have been on an explosive growth program. Just a dozen years ago, they operated private water utilities in 12 countries. They now provide drinking water for profit in 56 countries, according to a new study by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).
The water business has gone from being seen as a low-return utility, to a source of "blue gold."
Peter Spillett, a senior executive with Thames Water, calls water the petroleum of the 21st century.
"There's huge growth potential," he says. "There will be world wars fought over water in the future. It's a limited, precious resource, so the growth market is always going to be there."
Gerard Payen agrees. He directed the overseas expansion for Suez.
"Water as a business is very effective when you look at the needs," says Payen. "We purify water and bring this water to your home. We provide a service, it has a cost, and somebody has to pay for it."
However, there are those who say water should never be privatized.
"What's happening is that water itself is being carved up and will be parceled out according to people who have the ability to pay," says Tony Clarke, author of Blue Gold and a critic of global water corporatization.
Tony Clarke, a critic of water privatization |
He says that while the companies claim they can deliver water more efficiently, that is often not the case, and the cost is the loss of public control.
"These are 25, 30-year contracts, which the corporation have enormous control over something that is so essential to life itself," says Clarke.
"You can switch from Coke to Pepsi but you can't switch from water to... what?"
David Boys, who works for a federation of public trade unions, says the same reason water is profitable is why it shouldn't be a private business.
"You're 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,'" he says. "You can't do that. You can switch from Coke to Pepsi but you can't switch from water to... what?"
The public relations videos by the world's top water corporations boast explosive growth, with statements such as:
"Suez has experienced unprecedented growth in the last five years."
"Vivendi Water, the world's largest water company."
"110 million people on five continents are supplied with drinking water and sanitation services."
|
The ICIJ investigation shows cases where service and access has improved under private management. But around the world, privatizations have also led to rising costs, cutoffs for poor people and companies pulling out of contracts when they can't make enough profit.
Those issues have provoked heated debates and protests in many countries, debates and protests that may soon be coming here.
Though most privatizations so for have been in Asia, Africa and Latin America, top executives of the big three companies told CBC Radio that they plan to expand next in two areas – China and North America.
Send your thoughts about this report
 TOP | MAIN PAGE
|
Water for Profit: How multinationals are taking control of a public resource
