In some countries regulators routinely publish indicators of utility service performance through the local media. Exposing the "worst in class" has proven to be a powerful way of pressuring utilities to provide better services to consumers. This Note reviews the requirements for effective...

This operational manual describes the process for planning and implementing performance-based contracts (PBCs) for nonrevenue water (NRW) reduction. An NRW-PBC is a contract for outsourcing technical, commercial, and construction activities related to NRW reduction, while providing the...

The costs of meeting the SDG WASH targets will be several times higher than investment levels during the MDG era (2000-15). The immense scale of the financing gap calls for innovative solutions. In addition to mobilizing more funding another approach is to deliver the needed infrastructure more...

In Vietnam the water supply issue is complicated: given the history of a strongly centralized economy, would the private sector be willing or able to respond to new opportunities in water infrastructure. Pilot projects testing a new approach in two Vietnamese towns provide encouragement:...

Using data from 270 water and sanitation providers, this Note investigates the relationship between a utility's size and its operating costs. The current trend toward transferring responsibility for providing services to the municipal level is driven in part by the assumption that this will make...

This note highlights the wide variation in performance on key indicators: unaccounted-for water, labor costs, the working ratio, service coverage, water prices and connection costs, and continuity of service. As governments struggle with rising health care costs, public-private partnerships in...

Urban water supply services have traditionally been provided by state-owned, water utilities. In the past decades, many governments have tried to turn state-owned water utilities into effective and viable organizations with mixed success. Why have some public utilities become more efficient...

The objective of this study is to analyze how integrated policy, institutional, and regulatory interventions (institutional interventions in brief) can help align incentives for more sustainable water supply and sanitation (WSS) service delivery. The context for the study is the enhanced global...

This discussion paper supplements the 2018 World Bank Global Study on Aligning Institutions and Incentives for Sustainable Water Supply and Sanitation (WSS), which promotes holistic approaches in shaping policies, institutions, and regulation. The paper examines how lower-, lower-middle-, and...

The objective of this report is to better understand the challenges of meeting Sustainable Development Goal 6.1 from the perspective of off-grid services currently being used by a large and increasing proportion of the urban population. For this assessment, two key distinct areas with high...