The need for reform in urban water and sanitation service delivery is urgent. Countries are making moves to achieve reforms, bringing in changes to the way they manage utilities, charge for water, and regulate the sector. This paper investigates how a set of basic assumptions on service...

The Explanatory Notes on Key Topics in the Regulation of Water and Sanitation Services provide a consistent set of principles and practices that respond to these questions. Such information will be of interest to service providers, policy makers, and development practitioners interested in...

This study explains that one of the major issues affecting water utilities in the developing world is the considerable difference between the amount of water put into the distribution system and the amount of water billed to consumers (also called "non-revenue water" [NRW]). High levels of NRW...

During the 1990s, most countries in the Latin American region undertook major reforms of their water supply industries. Chile was the first to attempt to modernize its water sector with new legislation passed as early as 1988. By 1991, both Argentina and Mexico were beginning to conduct a series...

Water supply is essential for growth, as well as for social well-being. It is probably the most difficult of all infrastructure services to substitute, and its absence or deficiency represents a particular burden on the poor. In the developing world, 2 out of every 10 people lack access to a...

Access to safe water supply has been one of the top priorities in developing countries over the past three to four decades, and billions of dollars have been invested in pursuit of the goal of universal service. And yet the general consensus at the 2002 United Nations World Summit on Sustainable...

In 1995, the Government of Senegal launched wide-reaching reforms in the urban water sector. The reforms consisted of dissolving the state-run water company and creating a new asset-holding company that owned all the fixed assets in the government's name and had a mandate to manage the sector....

Improving water supply and sanitation (WSS) services is a key mechanism for reducing poverty. WSS services contribute directly or indirectly to income generation, health, and education. Water is an intrinsic element of the Millennium Development Goals agreed upon by the international community...