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Water

Overview

The explosive growth of three private water utility companies in the last 10 years raises fears that mankind may be losing control of its most vital resource to a handful of monopolistic corporations. In Europe and North America, analysts predict that within the next 15 years these companies will control 65 percent to 75 percent of what are now public waterworks. The companies have worked closely with the World Bank and other international financial institutions to gain a foothold on every continent. They aggressively lobby for legislation and trade laws to force cities to privatize their water and set the agenda for debate on solutions to the world's increasing water scarcity.

– Cholera and the Age of the Water Barons from The Center For Public Integrity, 03 February 2003.

In February 2000, just months after it took over control of the water system of Bolivia's third largest city, Cochabamba, a Bechtel subsidiary hit water users with enormous price increases. These increases forced some of the poorest families in South America to literally choose between food or water. A popular uprising against the company, repressed violently by government troops, left one 17 year old boy dead and more than a hundred people wounded. In April 2000 Bechtel was finally forced to leave.

– Bechtel vs. Bolivia from The Democracy Center.

Sometime in the next few weeks, behind closed doors at the World Bank headquarters in Washington, D.C., panelists in a secret trade court will decide if the people of South America's poorest country will have to pay $25 million to one of the world's most wealthy corporations.

– Bechtel Vs. Bolivia - Time to Open Up Secret Trade Courts by Jim Shultz, 08 Nov 2002..

Even though all South African citizens are constitutionally guaranteed "sufficient food and water" in South Africa's Bill of Rights, the ANC, encouraged by World Bank advisors, embarked on a nation-wide campaign to privatize South Africa's public-owned and operated water systems. They contracted out the management of water systems to large multinational bidders such as the French water-multinational Suez whose sole raison d'être, needless to say, is profit…

By 2001 there was a massive cholera outbreak that had spread from rural areas in Kwa-Zulu Natal Province to the outskirts of Johannesburg. It sickened hundreds of thousands of people and killed at least three hundred people who had to turn to polluted, cholera infected water systems after they could no longer afford the water charges of the new privately owned water companies. The cholera epidemic cost the South African government millions of dollars as it sought to contain the outbreak and treat infected people and contaminated river systems.

– What went wrong in the 'New' South Africa? – "Free trade" and water mostly by Andrew Nowicki, 20 October 2003.

Main Players

In descending order of number of customers (2004/2005).

1. Suez – a leading French-based multinational corporation, with operations primarily in water, electricity and natural gas supply, and waste management. It is the result of a 1997 merger between the Compagnie de Suez and Lyonnaise des Eaux, a leading French water company.
   In 2002 U.S. Water became a wholly owned subsidiary of United Water, which is a subsidiary of the SUEZ Group's water division, Ondeo. U.S. Water LLC was owned jointly by Bechtel Enterprises Holdings, Inc. of San Francisco, CA and United Utilities Plc. of Great Britain.
2. Veolia Environnement – a leading French-based company with activities in four main areas – water, waste management, energy and transport services. Between 2000 and 2003 the company was known as Vivendi Environnement, having been spun off from the Vivendi conglomerate, most of the rest of which became Vivendi Universal. Prior to 1998 Vivendi was known as Compagnie Générale des Eaux.
3. RWE/Thames Water – RWE AG, until 1990 named Rheinisch-Westfälisches Elektrizitätswerk AG, is a German public utility and electric power company based in Essen. RWE owns the British water and wastewater utility Thames Water.
4. AGBAR (Aguas de Barcelona) of Spain – The Agbar Group is at the head of a big holding made up of more than 230 companies and with more than 130 years of history which operates in all the fields related to community services: complete water cycle, health, inspection and certification, construction and installations, transport and maintenance, among others.
5. SAUR – was established in 1933 and became a subsidiary of the Bouygues Group in 1984. The company provides water to almost 31 million people throughout the world – 6 million consumers are served in SAUR's homeland: France.
6. SABESP – provides public water and sewage services in the state of Sao Paulo, southeast of Brazil, the richest part of the country. In fact the company is the largest water utility in the Americas and the third largest in the world. The major shareholder is the State of Sao Paulo, thus the company is a monopoly, do not expect any competition now or in the future.
7. United Utilities PLC – created from the merger of North West Water and Norweb in November 1995. Its shares are listed on both the London Stock Exchange and New York Stock Exchange. Its principal activities are managing and operating the regulated electricity distribution, water and wastewater networks in north west England, a region with a population of around 7 million.

Source: Wikipedia, et. al.