Bottled water has become quite the fad. It has become so trendy that people expect to pay as much as two or three dollars for twenty ounces.

Most people think bottled water is so expensive because it’s cleaner than tap water. But the FDA regulates bottled water and has lower standards than the Environmental Protection Agency, which regulates tap water, according to the Sierra Club.

In some cases, even our tap water is owned by companies that promise to operate water systems more efficiently than the public could, yet hike up the service cost. This has been going on since the late 1700s, according to Taxpayers for Common Sense. Although there are good and bad examples of water privatization, the broader picture is more frightening.

Other countries don’t have organizations to regulate water. Right now, more than a billion people don’t have access to clean water. Every minute, two children die because of dirty water, according to a March 20, 2006 article “Market forces seek to control the essence of life — water,” published in the San Francisco Chronicle.

For many impoverished nations, water privatization is not a choice. It is a stipulation within a broader agreement made with The World Bank. Poor countries rely on such assistance and are in no position to negotiate. The World Bank would argue that water privatization is beneficial. Poor countries don’t have the resources to maintain efficient public water systems and by allowing foreign companies in the door, new investment opportunities are made available, according to a January 28, 2005 article “The Politics of Water in Bolivia,” published on The Nation’s Web site.

However, what may sound good in theory doesn’t always work in reality. When Bolivia privatized the water utility shared by El Alto and La Paz in 1997, many people could no longer afford the connection fees because the company that now owns this water utility hiked up the price, according to a September 3, 2006 article “Maude Barlow Primes the Clean-Water Pump,” published in the Toronto Star. Even more appalling, the water treatment plant, until recently, spewed waste water onto the neighboring village, Villa Solidaridad. Villagers would drink and bathe in this water. It caused some children to become deathly sick, according to the aforementioned article.

This negligence has not gone unanswered. Bolivian citizens feverishly protested. As a result, the national government negotiated with the water company and it plans to leave Bolivia at the end of the year, according to the Toronto Star article. This is just one victory in the struggle to ensure clean water is owned and provided for the public.

As Americans, we too can do our part to ensure that water resources are protected. We can resist the intrusion of private water companies in our local communities. We can advocate for strict state and local groundwater laws to protect water resources. We can research the quality of our local water to ensure it’s not contaminated. Water is life. It belongs to the public, not a company.