"A costly thirst" by Fionna Harvey of the Financial Times April 3, 2008 reported that:

"Slum-dwellers in Dar es Salaam pay the equivalent of £4 ($8, €5) for 1,000 litres of water, bought over time and by the canister. In the same Tanzanian city, wealthier households connected to the municipal supply receive that amount for just 17p. In the UK, the same volume of tap water costs 81p and in the US it is as low as 34p. Figures from other countries confirm the evidence: it is generally the poorest who pay most for what is one of the most essential of all natural resources."

The article goes on to say that market-based pricing could help alleviate this disparity and that virtual water, water used for crop production and manufacturing, needs to be better incorporated into the price of goods. The article also discusses applying a similar trading system to water as the trading and pricing of carbon emissions, which would require clearly defined water rights and some degree of water privatization.

Full article: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/3c12a800-0197-11dd-a323-000077b07658.html?ncli...