John Key & H2O

If as John Key posits that "no one owns water", how come in Auckland Watercare charges for it? Obviously there is an argument that there is a cost in bringing it to points of use, but Watercare charges for volume used. I am attracted to the utilitarian idea that while water is used for the common good in a state owned enterprise then Maori through good grace have not sought a financial return, however once water is treated as a means to generate private profit, then the equation is radically altered.