I remember watching [The Corporation](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpjypnxnS4U) and seeing the stuff about the [Cochabamba Water War](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cochabamba_Water_War) where they privatized the water supply for an entire city and the civil uprising that resulted from the increasingly draconian legislation and pricing surrounding water supply – with something akin to the headline, legislation that could have been used to levy a license for collecting rainwater from your own roof.
And thinking “phew, I’m glad that hasn’t happened here” … not realizing that England and Wales were the only countries in the world with leaders corrupt enough to privatize their entire water and sewage system.
That’s the sort of thing that happens when the population is constantly increasing and housing them is big business.
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I’m lucky enough to have a private bore for fresh water and what surprises me the most is just how rancid mains water tastes. Like, you’re paying through the nose and not even getting a quality product.
Emotive, clickbait title.
You are 100% welcome to collect rainwater to drink and wash in a stream (or dig your own private bore hole) but if you want your property to connect to the national network and have treated, clean water brought to it and waste water carried away you are going to have to.pay a fee. None of that happens for free and the extent to which people take running water for granted is gross.
The reason bills are going up is because owners of water companies have paid themselves dividends instead of investing in the network and now expect the customer to fix the problem.
There are all sorts of arguments to be made against private water companies here (there is no real consumer choice in water, it’s not a “discretionary” item and therefore a natural monopoly that isn’t suitable for privatisation) but emotive arguments about “selling off the rain” are not one of them.
*Paying* for running, clean water is absolutely fine. People should be grateful to do so. That’s not “selling off the rain”. Gouging consumers by uplifting more than inflation to pay for the owner’s dividends though? Different story. Be nice of the headline went for the actual problem rather than tugging at heart strings.
It reminds me of the passage from Ragged Trousers Philanthropists about how the utility companies would steal the very air to sell to us if they could.
Kinda wild how we went from ruling half the world to not even owning our own water in the space of a century.
They keep dumping waste water and getting fined for it, as usual, those fines get passed on to the customer.
Who’s soil? I only own the soil in my own garden and afaik I can collect the rain that falls on that. This is collectivist nonsense, as if we all collectively own all the land.
I’m glad the water up here in Scotland is still publicly owned, most properties are also unmetered its all wrapped up in council tax. From April Band C will be paying £485.68 a year (9% increase from last year) but I’m sure its a heck of a lot cheaper then English rates.
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Here’s more on the lack of reservoirs (2022 article):
https://www.newcivilengineer.com/latest/the-challenge-of-building-more-reservoirs-to-ensure-uks-water-resilience-01-09-2022/
I remember watching [The Corporation](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpjypnxnS4U) and seeing the stuff about the [Cochabamba Water War](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cochabamba_Water_War) where they privatized the water supply for an entire city and the civil uprising that resulted from the increasingly draconian legislation and pricing surrounding water supply – with something akin to the headline, legislation that could have been used to levy a license for collecting rainwater from your own roof.
And thinking “phew, I’m glad that hasn’t happened here” … not realizing that England and Wales were the only countries in the world with leaders corrupt enough to privatize their entire water and sewage system.
That’s the sort of thing that happens when the population is constantly increasing and housing them is big business.
[deleted]
I’m lucky enough to have a private bore for fresh water and what surprises me the most is just how rancid mains water tastes. Like, you’re paying through the nose and not even getting a quality product.
Emotive, clickbait title.
You are 100% welcome to collect rainwater to drink and wash in a stream (or dig your own private bore hole) but if you want your property to connect to the national network and have treated, clean water brought to it and waste water carried away you are going to have to.pay a fee. None of that happens for free and the extent to which people take running water for granted is gross.
The reason bills are going up is because owners of water companies have paid themselves dividends instead of investing in the network and now expect the customer to fix the problem.
There are all sorts of arguments to be made against private water companies here (there is no real consumer choice in water, it’s not a “discretionary” item and therefore a natural monopoly that isn’t suitable for privatisation) but emotive arguments about “selling off the rain” are not one of them.
*Paying* for running, clean water is absolutely fine. People should be grateful to do so. That’s not “selling off the rain”. Gouging consumers by uplifting more than inflation to pay for the owner’s dividends though? Different story. Be nice of the headline went for the actual problem rather than tugging at heart strings.
It reminds me of the passage from Ragged Trousers Philanthropists about how the utility companies would steal the very air to sell to us if they could.
Kinda wild how we went from ruling half the world to not even owning our own water in the space of a century.
They keep dumping waste water and getting fined for it, as usual, those fines get passed on to the customer.
Who’s soil? I only own the soil in my own garden and afaik I can collect the rain that falls on that. This is collectivist nonsense, as if we all collectively own all the land.
I’m glad the water up here in Scotland is still publicly owned, most properties are also unmetered its all wrapped up in council tax. From April Band C will be paying £485.68 a year (9% increase from last year) but I’m sure its a heck of a lot cheaper then English rates.