Landmark Survey Shows For-Profit Water is a Risky Rip-Off

[n2doc]

'Without shareholders expecting profits, public systems are less likely to cut corners on service,' says Food & Water Watch
by Deirdre Fulton,

With Flint's water supply still tainted and undrinkable, one advocacy group is spotlighting the benefits of publicly owned, locally managed water systems, which it says could help ensure that the Michigan health crisis doesn't repeat itself across the country.

In a new survey (pdf), the largest of its kind, Food & Water Watch (FWW) documents how the dominant trend in the U.S. is toward public ownership of water and sewer systems, while showing that the alternative—large, for-profit, privately owned systems—are often more expensive and less reliable.

Indeed, FWW's analysis finds that nearly nine out of 10 people in the country receive their water service from a publicly owned utility, leading the advocacy organization to propose establishing a steady, dedicated source of federal funding for such water systems that could pay for the replacement of lead pipes in schools and homes and rehabilitate aging water systems across the country.

"From emergency management in Michigan to failed privatization experiments across the country, corporate influence has failed U.S. water systems," said FWW executive director Wenonah Hauter on Tuesday.

more

http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/02/16/landmark-survey-shows-profit-water-risky-rip

I never would have guessed!!!

[phantom power]

1. Nobody could guess that giving corporations control of something you'll immediately die without

might provide endless opportunities for monopolistic rent-seeking.