TFTT Report
Food & Water Watch’s Incredible, Shrinking Case Study File
Before Truth from the Tap™ launched a little over a year ago, Food & Water Watch housed on its website a long list of “case studies” – 34 to be exact – that touted examples of how citizens had blocked private water options within their states and communities.
For instance, Food & Water Watch pointed to Akron, Ohio, as a successful case study for stopping water privatization, congratulating voters on a “wonderful … hard-won victory.”[i] However, the group’s “case study” failed to mention that less than four months after Food & Water Watch worked to block a private water solution, the federal government sued the city for violations of the Clean Water Act due to its dysfunctional sewer system.[ii] Akron was eventually forced to pledge nearly $900 million in a consent decree agreement with the EPA to fix the sewer system.[iii]
Truth from the Tap™ launched in March 2015. Our fact-checking campaign has provided numerous “reverse case studies” that note in great detail and with extensive citations all of the ways Food & Water Watch was factually incorrect or simply didn’t tell the full story in their “case studies.”
And you’ll never guess what happened. Since Truth from the Tap™ launched, the Akron case study has mysteriously disappeared from Food & Water Watch’s website. In fact, Food & Water Watch now has ZERO private water case studies on its website. Zero. Zilch. Nada. Even Food & Water Watch now clearly realizes their own materials don’t hold up under even the slightest scrutiny.
Food & Water Watch’s deeply flawed playbook against private water is getting smaller and smaller as they realize that the facts tell a different story: private water companies have a proven track record of delivering safe and reliable drinking water and waste water services to 73 million Americans every day.
[i] Food & Water Watch, “Case Study: Akron, Ohio” February 2014 (accessed March 2015); Food & Water Watch, “Press Release: Akron Voters Reject Stinky Privatization Measure” November 5, 2008.
[ii] Akron Beacon Journal, “U.S. EPA sues Akron over sewer system” February 11, 2009.
[iii] Law360.com “US, Akron Strike $897M Deal Over CWA Violations” May 4, 2012.