Water is essential to life, covering about 70% of the planet [1], while the human body is roughly 50-60% water for adults.[2] The debate over water privatisation and profitability stems from a fundamental conflict: treating water as a commodity for profit often clashes with recognising it as a human right and a public good. The comparison of Ghana and England illustrates two distinct experiments with privatisation and their consequences.
Whose Water? England and Wales: Privatisation and Profit
Since 1989, water in England and Wales has been privately owned. The Water Act 1989 enabled the sale of regional water authorities, creating water and sewerage companies [3]. The government established the legislative framework for the sector, setting out regulations, duties, powers, customer protections and pricing under the Water Industry Act 1991, and environmental and water resource functions under the Water Resources Act 1991. However, this has not prevented the emergence of privately owned monopolies or instability in the financing of these industries.
Private water firms leverage debt heavily to pay shareholders, drawing criticism for underinvesting in essential capital works. This predominantly affects consumers, as profits are extracted for shareholders, continuously leaving the sector underinvested in its infrastructure [4]. Nor is the problem confined to infrastructure: standards have also fallen short, increasing harm to the natural environment and public health and failing to meet the framework set out in the legislation. It was recently revealed that 2023 saw a huge increase in sewage spills into waterways in England, from 301,091 spills in 2022 to 464,056 in 2023, an increase of over 54% in a single year, making it the worst year for sewage spills on record [5]. This is significant because water is essential and finite; without being treated with care, it does more damage than good, for everyone.
Whose water? It can be seen that water is a private entity controlled by investors and private business, treated as an investment plan that falls short of the real value of water, with both customers and nature negatively affected. The current model of ownership and operation can be seen as not fit for purpose, a view observed under the Starmer government, which wants to create a single, powerful new regulator to stop pollution and prevent bill hikes.
Ultimately, the English and Welsh model demonstrates that private ownership can deliver investment and operational capacity, but it also raises enduring questions about accountability when profit and public interest diverge. What remains clear is that any model, public or private, must be judged by whether it safeguards water as a finite and essential resource, protects consumers, and holds decisionmakers to account.
Whose Water? Ghana and the Cost of Galamsey
Water pollution is the biggest threat to Ghana’s water resources, driven by galamsey, a gold-mining process that is illegal in Ghana [6]. An estimated 4,726 hectares of land, more than the size of European cities such as Athens and Brussels, have been destroyed across seven of the country’s 16 regions and 34 of its 288 forest reserves [7]. Unlike regulated mining, galamsey operates autonomously along critical river basins. This is not only creating ecocide but also causing the Ghanaian government to lose revenue from its gold, much of which is smuggled out of the country [8].
Water is seen as of lesser significance than gold, which explains why people are willing to damage the environment for the small profits they can gain. The government has responded, stating that 76 people, including 18 foreign nationals, had been convicted of illegal mining since August 2021, and more than 850 others were being prosecuted [9]. However, more needs to be done. Gold is finite, but so is water, and the weight of water can be deemed greater, as it holds the power of life within all living beings. This illegal mining is affecting farmland as well as river basins. The threat in Ghana is not posed by the privatisation of water, but rather by galamsey, yet the question remains the same: whose water is it, when gold is allowed to come first?
In both instances, water is undervalued. Both cases highlight a central truth in the debate: when profit becomes the primary driver, the essential and human-rights nature of water is often compromised.
[1] National Aeronautics and Space Administration. (n.d.). Why is water so important for life? NASA Astrobiology. https://science.nasa.gov/astrobiology/learning-resources/alp/water-so-important-for-life/
[2] Chaplin, M. (2006). Do we underestimate the importance of water in cell biology? Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology, 7(11), 861-866. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrm2021
[3] House of Commons Library. (2025). Water ownership in England and Wales (Research Briefing CBP-12194). https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-12194/
[4] UNISON. (n.d.). Opinion: The water industry is a national scandal. UNISON. https://www.unison.org.uk/news/article/opinion-water-industry-national-scandal/
[5] UNISON. (n.d.). Opinion: The water industry is a national scandal. UNISON. https://www.unison.org.uk/news/article/opinion-water-industry-national-scandal/
[6] Encyclopaedia Britannica. (n.d.). What is galamsey and how does it affect Ghana? Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/question/What-is-galamsey-and-how-does-it-affect-Ghana
[7] BBC News. (2024). Ghana’s water crisis linked to illegal mining (title may vary slightly depending on article version). https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn9dn8xq92jo
[8] BBC News. (2024). Ghana’s water crisis linked to illegal mining (title may vary slightly depending on article version). https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn9dn8xq92jo
[9] BBC News. (2024). Ghana’s water crisis linked to illegal mining (title may vary slightly depending on article version). https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn9dn8xq92j
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