The privatisation of water distribution has stirred up strong feelings and met with resistance...However, the movement’s criticisms are off base...The main argument of the anti-privatisation movement is that privatisation increases prices, making water unaffordable for millions of poor people...But the price of water for those already connected to a mains network should not be the immediate concern. Instead, we should focus on those who lack access to mains water, usually the poorest in poor countries...True, many privatisations have been troublesome...But these mistakes do not make strong arguments against privatisations as such, but against bad privatisations.