TFTT Report

This blog is the first in a series examining FWW’s most recent misleading claims and failure to present a complete picture of the private water industry in the United States.

Here they go again. Even when trying to debunk our fact-based campaign, Food & Water Watch uses cherry-picked statistics out of context and ignores key facts.

From the FWW Blog: “…Since 2000, major water companies have lost 169 contracts in the United States. That’s because communities have learned the hard way that they can do better.”

False Claims and Flawed Arguments

According to Public Works Financing, 5,214 private water contracts have come up for renewal since 2000. This means that the 169 lost contracts cited by FWW account for a mere 3% of total contracts up for renewal. FWW conveniently ignores this data, which is actually included in the exact same chart from which they pull the 169 figure.

Here are the facts: While 169 contracts have been lost by private water operators over the past 13 years, more than 5,000 have been retained by the industry in that time. And 97% of these contracts stayed with a private water partner.

By making faulty claims based on partial data, FWW only serves to mislead and deny local communities an important option for the provision of safe, clean and reliable water.