WATER ABLAZE - Patagonia Sin Represas

the resultant financial damage – e.g. imposed fines – was greater than
the cost of repairs. However, even the substantial fines which RWE
Thames Water was ordered to pay in several cases for committing
environmental crimes were not sufficient to make the giant utility
company change its attitude.
Private operators must become involved if the local
government-run water industry is to be successful at
international level as well.
There is absolutely no reason whatsoever why municipal water utilities
should get involved on the international water market and earn
money abroad. Their one and only task should be to guarantee a high
quality of essential services to citizens in the local communities which
they serve.
12.3 Some Other Objections to Water Privatisation at
Communal Level
When resources are scarce, people must try to save water. A local authority
water company is not interested in getting customers to consume
more. A commercial operator, on the other hand, is interested in
exactly the opposite because higher consumption means higher profits.
From an ecological point of view, it makes sense to extract water from
several sources, so that consumption can be brought more in line with
the rate of renewal of the hydrological cycle. As soon as economic interests
predominate, the number of extraction sites will be reduced to
as few as possible in order to save costs. Privatisation is always synonymous
with centralisation.
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