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...

This report provides data and insights on the role of grant funding and concessional financing in meeting the Sustainable Development Goal for water (SDG 6, known as the water SDG). These sources of funding are collectively referred to in this report as aid flows to the water sector. This report...

The sector is in the process of repositioning itself toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Under the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) the international focus of the water sector was predominantly on increasing access to water supply and sanitation (WSS). With the advent of the SDGs...

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...

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...