Your Water is Owned by Who?
The Environmental Protection Agency tracks 147,354 individual water systems in the United States (Q2 2017).
81% of those systems are publicly run
17% are private
2% are public-private partnerships
The average annual water bill for households using 60,000 gallons of water a year is $329.06. Privately controlled water systems charge customers an average of $500.96, a 59% increase over the average bill for publicly run water systems, $315.56.
When private corporations buy public water utilities, customers pay for it.
Attribution: Brandonrush
About Water Privatization
Private water companies are more likely to cherry pick service areas to avoid serving low-income communities where low water use or bill collection probelms could hurt corporate profits
Customers who are unhappy with their service have no recourse if the utility is privately owned - they cannot switch to a different water utility and they cannot effect change by voting to replace water commissioners
Privatization typically leads to a loss of one in three water jobs
After privatization, water rates increase at about three times the rate of inflation, with an average increase of 18 percent every other year
Source: Food and Water Watch