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The Water Corporations

The Greedy Water Barons

There are only a handful of major corporate players now operating water utilities for profit. The two biggest are both from France – Vivendi Environnement (renamed Veolia Environnement SA on April 30, 2003) and Suez Lyonnaise des Eaux. Between them, they deliver private water and wastewater services to more than 200 million customers in 150 countries and are in a race, along with others such as RWE AG–Thames Water (German-British merger) and Bechtel-United Utilities (U.S.), to expand to every corner of the globe.

Like many other sectors of the global economy, the water industry is afflicted with merger mania as the European giants buy out a number of domestic water companies in order to control and penetrate new markets. In 1999, there were more than $15 billion worth of water acquisitions in the U.S. water industry alone, and all the big water companies are now listed on the stock exchanges. In the U.S., Vivendi now owns USFilter, Suez operates through its subsidiary United Water, and RWE-Thames functions by way of American Water Works. A number of communities, such as Lexington, Kentucky and Felton, California, are shocked to find out that their local utilities have been taken over by a multinational entity which is pushing for rate increases in order to pay off enormous corporate salaries, shareholder dividends and huge acquisition debt. Concerned residents are now organizing to reclaim control of their private utilities and place them in public hands.

• Who are the major water companies?

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