Take Action: Tell Suez to Stop Exploiting the World's Water! 

Suez Poster
Suez goes by many names including United Water, Ondeo, Degremont, Lyonnaise des Eaux and others. If you live in a city that is suffering from the abuses of Suez, you might find the Suez Wanted Poster to be useful. Suez Wanted Poster in English or [Word] Suez Wanted Poster en Espanol

Suez, a French-owned water and energy conglomerate, is the second largest water corporation in the world. In 2007, it merged with Gaz de France to become the world’s largest liquefied natural gas provider. In the process, it spun off Suez Environnement, its water and waste division, as publicly traded company. GDF Suez maintains a 35 percent stake in Suez Environnement, whose sales revenue topped $19 billion in 2007.

Suez Environnement, based in Paris, provides drinking water to 68 million people and sewer service to 44 million people worldwide.

GDF Suez expects an average annual growth in dividend per share of 10 to 15 percent over the next two years through 2010. Meanwhile, more than 1 billion people, mostly in the global south, lack access to clean and affordable water. An estimated 6,000 people die every day from preventable water-borne diseases.

A growing international campaign is challenging the policies and practices of Suez, citing the corporation for a range of abusive practices that place profit over the human right to water. These include:

• Refusing to extend services to poor neighborhoods;
• Cutting off water if people are unable to pay;
• Non-compliance with contractual requirements for maintenance and investment;
• Raising rates to unaffordable levels; and
• Threatening legal action when contracts are terminated

Read our report: Challenging Corporate Investor Rule.

United Water

In 2000, Suez bought United Water, the second largest water company working in the United States.

United Water, based in Harrington, N.J., serves 7.3 million people in 21 states. It fully owns 25 utilities and serves another 145 systems through public-private partnerships. It has three of the nation’s largest water and sewer contracts: Indianapolis, Gary and Jersey City.

Although the company rapidly expanded at the end of the 20th century, its growth plateaued over the proceeding decade. It served 200,000 fewer people in 2008 than when Suez bought it eight years earlier. In 2007, it signed only one new contract and it lost its largest client, Milwaukee.

Poor performance may have led to these stagnant waters. The company is responsible for several of the country’s worst privatizations, including the colossal debacle in Atlanta.