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-- a note from _kt75 Worldwide, the most recent history was characterised by a drastic increase in the price of water [ 1 ], [ 2 ]. There exist a number of diverse (partially contradictory) price drivers: investment into (defective) supply and treatment infrastructure, installation of new infrastructure (incl. expansion of existing infrastructure), real and/or artificially induced water scarcity/depletion of natural water resources, failed financial speculations [ 3 ], targeted non-investment into water supply infrastructure to, for example, increase the sales volume of bottled water, etc. In addition to this there exists still a comprehensive lack of awareness on the limited resource water [ 4 ]. The rise of the price of water (along with an increase of the price of water rights) is a common phenomenon [ 5 ]-[ 8 ], but there exist particularly sensitive regions that may face particular increases in water prices: # Near Eeast (incl. Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq,...

-- a note from _kt75 ( updated : 2012-11-12 ) The most essential good, water, comes under economic pressure. A number of reports document sharply rising prices for water among others in the USA, e.g. [ 1 ]- [ 4 ], Europe, e.g. [ 5 ]-[ 7 ] and Asia/Australia, e.g. [ 8 ] - [ 10 ] etc. Accordingly, for the USA an increase between 5-15% is prognosticated. Israel, with a reported increase in water consumption by 6% in 2011 [ 11 ] is about to raise water rates by about 4% in 2013 [ 12 ] . In Europe the price per m3 of water will raise up to 5% [ 5 ], [ 7 ], [ 13 ]. The reasons for the increasing water prices are diverse. Some are of technical nature (outdated infrastructure, installation of new equipment), some are of social nature (pension costs for water workers). However, the price of water is increasingly liable to some artificial manipulation, i.e. speculation [ 1 ], [ 2 ]. It seems to be rather questionable and actually critical (in particular from a social ...