Ruling on selling water
Question

                Is it permissible to sell water ?.
Praise be to Allah.
    With regard to selling water, one of two scenarios must 
    apply: 

    1 -- The water is in a public well or river that does not 
    belong to anyone. This it is not permissible to sell, because of the report 
    narrated by Abu Dawood (3477), that the Prophet  (peace and blessings of 
    Allaah be upon him) said: “The Muslims are partners in three things: 
    herbage, water and fire.” Classed as saheeh by al-Haafiz in al-Talkhees. 

    It says in ‘Awn al-Ma’bood: What is meant is the water 
    that is not acquired by the efforts of anyone, such as spring water, and it 
    is not collected in vessels or tanks, or taken away by means of a channel. 
    Herbage refers to plants both fresh and dry. 

    Al-Khattaabi said: What is meant is herbage that grows on 
    disused land where people let their animals graze, and that does not belong 
    exclusively to anyone. If herbage grows on land that belongs to a specific 
    owner then it is his property and no one has the right to share in it except 
    with his permission. End quote. 

    Al-Sindi said:  Some people followed the apparent meaning and 
    said that these three things cannot be owned and that it is not valid to 
    sell them at all. But the well known scholarly view is that what is meant by 
    herbage is permissible herbage that does not belong to anyone; what is meant 
    by water is water that falls from the sky or comes from springs and rivers 
    that are not usually owned by anyone; and what is meant by fire is the trees 
    that people chop down from permissible sources and use for fuel. If someone 
    puts water in vessels or acquires possession of it, it is permissible to 
    sell it, and the same applies to other things. End quote. 

    2 – Where the water is in the possession of an individual, 
    and he is the one who extracted it and acquired it. This it is permissible 
    to sell. 

    Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) said in
    al-Sharh al-Mumti’ (8/140): But if he owns it and acquires it and 
    extracts it and puts it in the tank, then it is permissible to sell it, 
    because it has become his property by means of acquisition. End quote. 

    Shaykh al-Fawzaan (may Allaah preserve him) was asked: Is it 
    permissible to sell water, and when? 

    He replied: That depends. If he acquires the water in his 
    vessel or tank, then he owns it and it is permissible for him to sell it, 
    because he acquired it and took control of it and went to the effort of 
    acquiring it, so it becomes his property. 

    But if the water is still in the well or river or in the 
    channel that flows through his property, then there is a difference of 
    opinion among the scholars. The correct view is that it is not permissible 
    for him to sell it, rather he has more right to benefit from it than others, 
    but he does not have the right to prevent others from benefiting from it if 
    that does not harm him or his property, because the Prophet  (peace and 
    blessings of Allaah be upon him) forbade selling surplus water. End quote. 

    Al-Muntaqa (3/13).