THE world’s giant water companies, obviously aiming for huge profits, have been gainfully taking over water resources in the region, from sourcing to distribution, in a clear pattern of mining the world’s “blue gold.”
A study, made available to the research database of this writer by the Washington-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and Josefina Palattao, debt and public finance coordinator of the Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC), showed that “water companies are chasing a business with a potential annual revenue income [ranging] from $400 billion to $3 trillion, depending on how you do the math.”
The ICIJ and FDC said that, in the race to quench the world’s thirst, the market base of the six most globally active water firms has increased sixfold over a 12-year period. In 1990 about 51 million people got their water from private companies. That figure is now more than 300 million.
According to the ICIJ and FDC, with the majority of the world’s population concentrated in the Asia Pacific, some of the highest earners in the global water industry have gained a foothold in the region, and showed intent to take advantage of increasingly scarce water resources for private-business ends.
Ondeo
IN 2001 Ondeo, the water subsidiary of French utility company Suez Environment SA, won a 30-year water-management contract to service 200,000 inhabitants of the city of Sanya in China. The total investment was projected to be €36 million.
With Benpres Holdings as its Philippine partner in Maynilad Water Services, Ondeo was awarded a 25-year concession contract in 1997 to rehabilitate and operate the greater part of Metro Manila’s 120-year-old water utility.
PT PAM Lyonnaise Jaya in Jakarta, Indonesia, is 95-percent owned by Ondeo, which provides services that include raw water supply, water treatment, delivery system, metering and billing.
Veolia Environmental
PARIS-BASED Veolia Environmental, formerly known as Vivendi Environmental, is involved in water, energy and transportation management. Of these sectors, the ICIJ and FDC said, water distribution (through Vivendi Water) emerged as its highest income earner.
“Not surprisingly, to respond to the ever-increasing demands in this domain,” Veolia is present in five continents, providing “water-related services to 110 million people in more than 100 countries,” including China, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, India, Japan, South Korea and Australia, the ICIJ and FDC said. It added: “Its most recent conquest is a contract to distribute drinking water to Shanghai’s Pudong area.”
Thames Water
THAMES Water (TW) jumped in as early as 1995 to get a share of the international water market. It has since added 15 million customers to its core markets in Europe and the Americas. Thames is the water division of German utility firm RWE. It is the world’s third-largest water company, servicing 70 million people worldwide.
China
TW has been operating in China since 1989 and in Hong Kong for decades. It is one of the country’s leading private water companies and has 6.5 million customers.
In 1995 the company won the contract for China’s first privately funded water-treatment project in Da Chang, Shanghai. Construction of the major water-treatment facility for the city began in 1996. Upon the project’s completion in 1998, TW took charge of running the new plant. The facility reportedly supplies 400 million liters of water daily to 2 million people.
In addition, the ICIJ and FDC said, TW acquired in July 2002 the largest single shareholding in China Water Co. The purchase immediately gave TW access to China Water’s 4 million customers, making it the second-
largest foreign private water company in China, with 6.5 million customers.
India
IN India TW extended technical advice and assistance, specifically on Indian sewerage systems, as part of the Ganga Action Plan.
The company also worked on a major consultancy contract to help the local water company in Mumbai, a thickly populated city in India. The 18-month project will assess the operation and management of the water supply in Mumbai and develop a program to raise the technical and managerial capacity of the local company.
Indonesia
THE operations of PT Thames PAM Jaya, which is 95-percent owned by its parent companies in London and Paris, cover raw water supply, treatment plants, delivery system, metering and billing, and the use of PAM Jaya’s office building in Jakarta. PAM Jaya is the Indonesian capital’s government water authority.
Malaysia
THROUGH its subsidiaries, TW has been operating in Malaysia for the past 30 years. It provides specialist management and operations support to Sabah-based water-treatment facilities Johor Water and Timatch Water.
Japan
TW also worked in partnership with Mitsui & Co. Ltd., a world-class trading company. It aimed to develop a long-term relationship with local water and wastewater authorities in Japan.
The company also works with local authorities on a range of operational and maintenance projects, including in nonrevenue water projects.
Singapore
MOST recently, TW secured a prestigious contract from the Public Utilities Board of Singapore to design and construct a new water-treatment plant using the latest “immersed membrane technology” at its Chestnut Avenue Waterworks.
Once completed, the facility will be the largest immersed membrane water-treatment plant in the world. Along with its partner Sembcorp, TW will operate and maintain the works prior to handling it over to the local clients.
Thailand
OVER the years, TW has been involved in a wide range of projects and operations. In 1995, for instance, the company was awarded the country’s first privately financed water-supply project. Its aim was to secure a reliable, safe and affordable supply of drinking water for the rapidly expanding Pathum Thani and Rangsit industrial districts to the north of Bangkok, Thailand’s capital.
The ICIJ and FDC said that, in 2001, TW clinched a $240-million contract for a major water-treatment project, as well as the associated trunk mains, reservoirs and main distribution system, in west Bangkok. The project targets 400,000 people in the area consuming up to 320 million liters of drinking water a day, making it one of the largest water-treatment projects constructed in Asia.
E-mail: cecilio.arillo@gmail.com.