For the Love of Water Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

For the Love of Water - Essay Example Major bodies and political institutes have gained control over the water distribution channels of the world and are making a lot of money at the expense of the poor persons. Water has now turned into an expensive commodity that can only be afforded by the well off while the rest have to do with spring water, or even dirty ditch water. Positive and negative externalities There are positive and negative externalities as far as water supply is concerned. The positive externalities are; the suppliers of the water are making millions as the commodity is in demand since we cannot do without water. It is the big corporations that are gaining from this business. These corporations are headed by persons who are believed to be associated with the World Bank. So as the World Bank imposes regulations on countries concerning the privatization of water supply then these corporations cash in. Privatization Privatization being the transfer of the ownership or business title to the private sector has turned the water supply system into a mess. Initially as the governments would supply water through their own ministries, there was sanity in the industry. As time went by, pressures have been exerted especially on the developing countries to privatize the water supply systems. Initially, the private sectors made the people believe that they were out to help them have water supply but this was not the case. It is common sense that as these companies supply water, they are in business and would want to make an extra coin for their investors. Privatization was meant to equip the cities with portable water and sewerage which did happen but only to those people who could afford the change. A lot of people who earn very little couldn’t afford the change and thus have to do with well water or borehole water where available. In other places in the world, the private sector connected water then charged for the water supply or consumption that people use. When these people are not ab le to pay for the water, it is cut off. These people have now turned rebellious and are reconnecting the pipes themselves to get the water. Some do this in the night. Advantages of privatization. Privatization though considered a bad omen by the people especially of the developing countries has its own advantages though not many. It has created employment as these corporations set up firms in these countries to supply water. These firms also contract persons to do the piping and sewerage construction, thereby creating money making avenues for the people on the ground. With the coming of the pipe water, it is believed that the rate of people getting water borne diseases was reduced as these water supplying corporations cleaned and disinfected the water. According to FLOW (2013) bad and infected water kills more than even AIDS and other diseases. Privatization was also a God sent blessing to the water bottling companies as the rate at which people are taking bottled water is very high and it created a booming business. To the people that were able to pay, sewerage and piped water is a blessing as compared to fetching water at a river or borehole. Disadvantages of privatization With these advantages came many disadvantages. People are excluded from portable water in cities. They don’t have water nor the money to buy the basic commodity. The kind of wages that these people get cannot allow them to have all the water that they would require to live healthy lives. They have to make do with very little water and do all they need to with this. What they can do away with like bathing daily, and cleaning their clothes, they don’t do on a daily basis but just when it is really necessary. The private water suppliers have neglected them. For these suppliers it is just