Water Scarcity: Privatization is Not the Solution

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Water is vital for humanity as it sustains human life and is a fundamental aspect in most of the products which are consumed by an average living person. This is why water supplies are crucial, because through them this substance is provided sadly these services are being perturbed by various obstacles that at the end are provoking a severe water scarcity around the globe. This has been attempted to be solved by privatising water services, since it is believed that water available for free has generated an overexploitation of this resource. However, this apparent solution is encouraging the problem due to the inefficiency and corruption of these companies. That is why the purpose of this paper, before all else, will be to analyse the diverse complications that water supplies encounter and lastly to see how water privatisation is an unsuccessful reaction to these obstacles.

Among these difficulties, which are stimulating the crisis, there are three predominant factors: a negligent use of water, a dramatic increment in the population, and a worldwide social inequality. The first one has caused an increase in shortages of consumable water and that is probed by a situation acknowledged by the coordinator of the India Resource Centre, “Strict deficiencies of water are occurring in communities surrounding Coca Cola’s bottling operations, as a result of the unconsidered use of huge quantities of water by this company … It is even said that the water Coca-Cola uses in a day would satisfy 20,000 Indian people.” (Roddick 2004 p.54) Furthermore, inconveniences comparable to the one described are equally materializing in the developing world and are fortifying the water scantiness, thus, it is possible to infer that they have affected the ...

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...rivatisation does, will make water part of the market and hence that will convert it into a commodity discarding the idea that it should be a human right. Finally, the lack of permanent solutions will probably lead to the possibility of the initiation of the first water wars, as a result of the incrementing water scarcity.

Works Cited

• Giddens, A (2009) Sociology 6th ed. Polity Press: Cambridge

• Hall, D. et al. (2008) Water privatisation. Retrieved 20 February, 2012 http://www.psiru.org/reports/2008-04-W-over.doc.

• Mashhood, F. (2012) Rethinking water: Growing population, limited supply mean costs destined to rise, experts say. Retrieved 20 February, 2012 from http://www.statesman.com/news/local/rethinking-water-growing-population-limited-supply-mean-costs-2133212.html

• Roddick, A. et al. (2004) Troubled water. Chichester: Anita Roddick Publications

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