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In January, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court blocked the corporate takeover of a public water system in Chester, Pennsylvania. After a nine-year battle, the court ruled that Chester, a town of 33,000 outside Philadelphia, does not have the jurisdiction to sell the local municipal water system to Aqua, a massive company that owns water and sewer systems throughout the state.

The ruling came in the wake of major public pushback, with hundreds of residents joining state legislators at public hearings to oppose the sale. Save Chester Water Authority, a grassroots campaign, warned: “In every acquisition it has made, [Aqua] hikes up water bills through rapid-fire rate increases and infrastructure surcharges.” The state supreme court ultimately ruled that the town of Chester could not sell the water system over the objections of Chester Water Authority, an independent governing agency that had rejected the sale and wanted to remain public.

It was a victory for public water advocates in the state, who have been locked into a bitter battle with private water companies for the past decade.

The water landscape has changed drastically in Pennsylvania since the 1990s, when private companies began aggressively purchasing and consolidating small water and sewer systems throughout the state. The two largest water companies in the state (American Water and Aqua, which is a subsidiary of Essential Utilities) spent nearly $6 million lobbying the state legislature from 2014 through mid-2024, securing pro-privatization legislation that made water takeovers more profitable.

As more and more towns opted to sell their water and sewer systems for a one-time cash windfall, residents — with no say in the matter — were left paying the price. In Pennsylvania, water bills from privately owned systems are 84 percent more expensive than publicly provided water, according to a 2024 report from the nonprofit think tank In The Public Interest.

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But in recent years, Pennsylvanians have been fighting back. In David and Goliath battles, groups of neighbors have organized to pack public meetings, create petitions and ballot initiatives, elect their co-organizers to public office, and file lawsuits, under names like Neighbors Oppose Privatization Efforts (NOPE) and Keep Water Affordable (KWA). These advocates have helped change the narrative, turning public opinion against water privatization. In April, Gov. Josh Shapiro issued a letter warning private utility companies that his administration will be cracking down on unnecessary rate increases. And in March, for the first time, legislation made it out of a House committee that would repeal a 2016 law that made it easier for private water companies to institute skyrocketing water rates.

“I think, especially now that we’ve kind of gotten our own playbook, it’s been harder for the private for-profit utilities to get a foothold in some of these municipalities,” Kofi Osei, an organizer-turned-elected official who helped block the sale of Towamencin Township’s sewer system, told Truthout.

But the powerful water industry has not given up the fight. The two largest U.S.-based water corporations (American Water and Essential Utilities) are well on their way to a merger, further reducing any semblance of competition. Meanwhile, American Water is currently seeking to raise water and sewer rates for its consumers across Pennsylvania.

And even as the Chester Water Authority ultimately won its fight to block its sale in January, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court allowed another contested sale to go through in December 2025. In that case, the Pennsylvania Consumer Advocate had sued to block the sale of East Whiteland’s sewer system to Aqua, arguing that Aqua’s planned rate hikes meant the deal was not in the public interest. But ultimately, the Supreme Court reversed a lower court ruling, allowing the sale to move forward.

“A lot of the water industry was........

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