It may come as a surprise but water supply in the US is mainly in public hands, with 86 per cent of the population served by public providers. Nonetheless, between 2000 and 2015, private water companies lost 169 contracts to municipal take-back.
One of the largest was the 20-year $428 million contract that United Water, a subsidiary of French giant Suez, was awarded in 1999 to manage Atlanta’s water. The result? Job losses, rising bills and general disrepair, with the city losing billions to inefficient metering and billing.
