Title: Different faces of private sector involvement in the water supply and sanitation sector

Authors: Klaas Schwartz

Addresses: Department of Management and Institutions, UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education, PO Box 3015, 2601 DA Delft, The Netherlands

Abstract: The discussion over Private Sector Involvement (PSI) has changed during the last decade. Originally, the debate focused on whether utilities with PSI were more efficient or not. However, when different contractual forms became more important, the functioning of contracts received more attention. Currently, new types of partnership are emerging and may have better chances to be successful. The debate is going beyond the old dichotomy of |public versus private| forms of water supply. The partnerships are not only between public and private partners, but also between public and other levels of government, or between public and NGOs. Also twinning projects, which are more trust-based, between water utilities and other water operators are emerging.

Keywords: private sector involvement; PSI; water supply; sanitation; drinking water; utilities; partnerships; twinning; water services.

DOI: 10.1504/IJW.2008.019500

International Journal of Water, 2008 Vol.4 No.3/4, pp.304 - 310

Published online: 14 Jul 2008 *

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