TFTT Report

This blog, focusing on their use of flawed case studies, is the second in a series examining FWW’s most recent misleading claims.

A recent Food & Water Watch blog once again tries to spin case studies in way that is more fiction than fact, repeatedly telling only part of the story and ignoring independent reports, public statements, and actual outcomes.

For example, in Indianapolis, FWW references customer complaints and billing problems after Veolia began operating the city’s water system in 2002. However, according to public statements from city officials, the billing problems would have occurred even if Veolia had not come on board, due to an inherited software issue. In fact, an independent survey of customers conducted for the city’s Department of Waterworks found that nearly three-fourths of residents were satisfied with Veolia’s operations.

FWW also repeatedly uses partial timelines throughout case studies, trying to spin events by disregarding the actual outcomes. Take Atlanta – FWW claims that privatization resulted in higher water rates and unrealized cost savings. What they fail to mention is that now, back under public control, Atlanta had the highest water rates of any major U.S. city in 2011.

Time and time again, these activists push out the same flawed arguments based on a few cities in the U.S. to try to convince the public that private water does not work. Yet how can we trust these activists to give us facts on private water when all they offer is spin and deception? You can get the full story on FWW’s most-cited case studies here.