Paying for water.

Abstract

Water has been taken for granted as an essential public health need since the Victorian sanitary revolution. Water has come back on to the public health agenda in the United Kingdom because of recent policy changes and their untoward environmental and social impacts; along with water privatization and tough new environmental directives, there have been serious water pollution incidents, water shortages, water debt and disconnection. Along with concern about protecting individual rights to a clean safe water supply, there is concern about the ability of national water resources to meet all our communities' needs, without unacceptable environmental damage. A national plan is needed for the conservation of water and protection of water resources and the environment; adequate central funds are needed to see that this happens. There should be greater emphasis on local water management and a key role for local authorities; there should be fair pricing, protection of water supplies for the poorest and most vulnerable, and a ban on water disconnection to domestic users, on public health grounds. More research is needed into the potential adverse health impact of people on prepayment meters disconnecting themselves. There is a place for water metering as the most rapidly deliverable means of controlling peak demand, reducing overall consumption and avoiding a large-scale environmentally damaging solution to supply more water. However, control of leakage offers the largest potential saving and is the most cost-effective means to protect existing water supply. We question whether private water companies, geared to maximizing profit and share dividends, can deliver a national plan for the protection and management of water resources, for the good of the environment and future generations. The public health lobby must become more actively engaged in the debate about the supply, protection and price of our most precious public health asset-water.