Flow: For Love of Water

Himself - Former 30 Year Accountant Vivendi & Veolia Corp.:
70% of water worldwide is used by agriculture. 20% is used by industry. 10% by us. So it's because of agricultural and industrial users, that we need more and more water to grow things that should not grow in these places. And sure enough, to grow all of this, you need a lot of pesticides and chemicals. And sure enough, all those chemicals with water, in the earth... it's not a good marriage.

Himself - Research Director, Human Sciences Research Council, South America:
'Cost recovery' is our new bible that we have in South Africa. That everybody must pay for what service you get. And for rich people, that's obviously not a problem. But, when it comes to the really poor, you wouldn't believe it, but five rand, which is less than a dollar, is a lot of money for a rural community. So you find that the poorest of the poor, they're only taking one bucket, but if you work out how much they've paid for that bucket, it's actually more than a richer person would have paid in an urban community for that water. And it's unjust.

Himself - Author, We are the Poor:
By telling a woman who's got nothing, in order to get your water, you must put in a card that takes your meager amount of money. [angry] What is she going to do but go to the river and take that dirty water, and die of cholera and then you say that people don't know how to practice hygiene.

Himself - Environmental Attorney:
What we did was, we said let's go back in time and look at who owned the water 1000 years ago in Rome [sic] and how has the civil law in Europe and other cultures handled this question of water ownership and use. And what we found was that water has always had a public aspect to it. Water has always been considered not owned by anybody. Today we think, well, isn't that profound. It's not profound at all. It's just common sense. You look at the sun; do you own the sun? Water is this transient gift on Earth for life, moving and flowing and inherent in its transient nature is the idea of commons. Things that are transient in nature, like this pen, you can pick up and own. Things that are transient, you don't own.

Himself - Gandhian Leader:
In 1854, the American Indian chief of Seattle replies to an offer from the white government of the United States to "buy" [... ] a large area of Indian land. How can you buy or sell the sky? The warmth of the land? The idea is strange to us. If we do not own the freshness of the air and the sparkle of the water, how can you buy them? You don't own them. Every part of this Earth is sacred to my people, every shining pine needle, every sandy shore, every mist in the dark woods, every humming insect is holy in the memory and experience of my people. This beautiful Earth is the mother of the red man. We are part of the Earth and it is part of us. The rivers are our brothers. We give the rivers the kindness we would give to any brother. But the white man does not understand our ways. He is a stranger who takes from the land whatever he needs. The Earth is not his brother but his enemy. And when he has conquered it, he moves on. He kidnaps the Earth from his children and he does not care. I do not know. Our ways are different from your ways.