The UN’s special rapporteur on the human right to clean water has delivered a scathing critique of England’s privatized water system, urging a shift to public management.
Prof. Pedro Arrojo-Agudo, in a recent report, highlighted the failures of the system, calling for water services to be operated as publicly owned utilities rather than by private companies focused on shareholder profits.
Arrojo-Agudo’s concerns were particularly aimed at the regulator Ofwat, which he claimed has exhibited a complacent attitude towards private water firms’ financial practices.
This critique comes after Ofwat ordered English water companies to return £158 million to customers following a record year of pollution incidents.
Arrojo-Agudo criticized the regulatory body for its lack of transparency and public accountability, which he said undermined the quality of service.
The UN report highlights England’s water system failures and calls for transparency and public accountability.Matthew Topham from the campaign group We Own It, which advocates for the return of water services to public ownership, called the report a “brutal rebuke” to the UK government’s current strategy.
Topham pointed to the increasing public dissatisfaction with the water sector, with private firms benefiting financially while public services lag.
Despite the criticism, Environment Secretary Steve Reed has rejected calls for nationalization, citing the high costs and the potential complexity of undoing the privatized model.
Instead, Reed is pursuing new private investments to address water issues, using a report funded by water companies to support his stance.
Arrojo-Agudo argued that water and sanitation should be treated as public goods, not commodities, given their status as natural monopolies.
He pointed to the success of municipally owned water systems, such as Paris’s Eau de Paris, which reinvests profits, operates transparently, and maintains high customer satisfaction.
The report underscores a global trend towards public water management, with more than 90% of cities worldwide operating their water systems under public ownership.