At an alternative meeting running parallel to the Fourth World Water Forum, grassroots organizations from both the developed and developing world spoke out against global efforts to privatize water.

Canadian activist Maude Barlow, who co-authored the book "Blue Gold," said there are differences in the struggles in First and Third World countries, but it is urgent to "take back global control over water, particularly from private sector corporations and the governments that support them."

Barlow said that in 2005, multinational water corporations reported significant profit increases, ranging from 60 to 170 percent. "This is appalling when every eight seconds a child dies of a water-borne disease," she said.

Latin America is faced with a "special reality," she said, because it has an abundance of water resources, and yet there are 130 million people without access to safe drinking water in their homes throughout the region.

Barlow added that "in Mexico we must be vigilant" because the nation is facing multiple privatization projects which act "like a big sieve draining into the pockets of corporations."

Erasto Reyes, an activist from San Pedro Sula, Honduras, said the municipal water service there is held by a private Italian company whose prices have become "yet another weight to be carried by the poor."

He said the half million people living in the slums at the edges of the city can buy salt water, which is slightly cheaper, or fresh water from tanker trucks that supply water at unregulated prices.

"Residents of these communities say that often they have to choose between buying a barrel of water or a pound of beans to feed their families," Reyes said.

Renato DiNicola, an Italian water rights activist, said since many of the multinational water corporations are headquartered in Europe, activists there have a big responsibility to fight for legislation that limits the power of such companies to own and sell water to the rest of the world.