Introduction

Fresh water is crucial for human survival. Also, it is necessary for the health of a properly functioning ecosystem on Earth, and therefore both directly and indirectly it gives life to humans. Access to water is essential for life and it has been recognized as a human right. On 28 July 2010 the United Nations General Assembly recognized the right to safe drinking water and safe and clean sanitation as an essential human right for the full enjoyment of life. The General Assembly noted with deep concern that around 884 million people lack access to safe drinking water. The United Nations General Assembly urged its member states and international organizations to provide the financial resources, general resources and skills needed to help the poorest countries to provide clean water and sanitation accessible and affordable to all. In addition to the still-insufficient access to improved sources of drinking water, 2.6 billion people lack access to basic sanitation. Approximately 1.5 million children under five years of age die each year from diseases related to inadequate access to safe drinking water and sanitation. In October 2010, the Council of the United Nations Human Rights asserted that the right to water and sanitation derives from the right to an adequate standard of living. This statement has led the Special Rapporteur on the Human Right to Safe Drinking Water and Sanitation, Catarina de Albuquerque, to declare that ‘this means that for the UN, the right to water and sanitation is one of the existing legally binding instruments on human rights’. Simultaneously, the discussion surrounding water investment is growing as the global population swells and water becomes an increasingly scarce commodity. Services will need to alleviate water stress (in areas where population growth is booming while water supplies dwindle). The rapid increase of the hydraulic fracturing industry is also stimulating a huge demand for water and water services. All these developments further reinforce the possible privatization of water services. The growing economic interests concerning water and water services are generating tension with the recent recognition of the human right(s) to water and sanitation. This tension should, however, not be limited to an opposition or a Manichean distinction of business and human rights interests.