ABSTRACT
The opposition to the private ownership of water is therefore based upon a fundamental dissonance – a sense that in ‘disconnecting’ it, privatisation runs counter to the organising principles of a whole array of cosmological schemes, creating impediment and ‘disorder’. Wessex Water works more closely with the Environment Agency, conservation organisations and other community groups, sponsoring local schools and youth clubs, creating wildlife reserves and fisheries and collaborating with local councils in recycling programmes. The institutional culture of the privatised water companies is neither monolithic nor immune to pressures for reform. Social responsibility is demonstrated via company involvement in WaterAid projects in the developing world. Water users require unlimited, cheap and reliable water supplies, as well as demanding environmental and social responsibility. Environmental and conservation groups threaten profitability by pushing for water conservation and more sustainable management. The industry’s engagement with water is therefore dominated by technical issues and the material culture that manifests its control of water.
