Public and Private Water Service Provision

Public and Private Water Service Provision: Comparison

Please note this is a comparison between Version 2 by Rita Xu and Version 1 by Rui Marques.

The controversy between the performance of public and private ownership of water and wastewater services is common worldwide. In most cases, this discussion is biased due to ideological issues or insufficiency or inconsistency of information. This study aims to compare the performance of private water utilities with that of public water utilities, using rich, robust, and audited information from Portuguese operators. The benchmarking exercise focuses on three distinct areas, namely, the efficiency and effectiveness of the investments made, the quality of service provided, and the tariffs and prices implemented. From the analysis performed, it is concluded that, on average, the performance of private water utilities exceeds that of public water utilities, and prejudice in most cases is unjustified regarding private ownership. Anyway, water, as an essential service, should always be provided, regardless of utility ownership.

water services
public and private ownership
value for money

Please wait, diff process is still running!

References

Okke Braadbaart; Private versus public provision of water services: does ownership matter for utility efficiency?. Journal of Water Supply: Research and Technology-Aqua 2002, 51, 375-388, 10.2166/aqua.2002.0034.
Pérard, E; Water supply: Public or private? An approach based on cost of funds, transaction costs, efficiency and political costs. Policy Soc. 2009, 27, 193–219.
Pedro M. S. Carvalho; Rui Cunha Marques; Sanford V. Berg; A meta-regression analysis of benchmarking studies on water utilities market structure. Utilities Policy 2012, 21, 40-49, 10.1016/j.jup.2011.12.005.
Vilanova, M.; Balestieri, P; Does public or private ownership defines the performance of water supply systems. Evid. Literature. Rev. Bras. De Gestão E Desenvolv. Reg. 2014, 10, 138.
TC. Regulação de PPP no Sector das Águas; Relatório no. 3–2 Secção; Tribunal de Contas: Lisbon, Portugal, 2014.
RASARP. Relatório Anual dos Serviços de Águas e Resíduos em Portugal; Entidade Reguladora de Serviços de Águas e Resíduos (ERSAR): Lisbon, Portugal, 2017.
Naren Prasad; Privatisation Results: Private Sector Participation in Water Services After 15 Years. Development Policy Review 2006, 24, 669-692, 10.1111/j.1467-7679.2006.00353.x.
Marin, P. Public-Private Partnerships for Urban Water Utilities. Public-Priv. Partnersh. Urban Water Util. 2009.
Odeh R. Al-Jayyousi; Scenarios for Public-Private Partnerships in Water Management: A Case Study from Jordan. International Journal of Water Resources Development 2003, 19, 185-201, 10.1080/0790062032000089310.
Simon Porcher; The ‘hidden costs’ of water provision: New evidence from the relationship between contracting-out and price in French water public services. Util. Policy 2017, 48, 166–175.
Comair, F. Private public partnership in the water sector-ESCWA Region. In Proceedings in Seminar on Water Governance: Role of Stakeholders; UN: Beirut, Lebanon, 2005.
Baptista, J. Lessons learnt from the water reforms in Portugal; Presentation in the visit organized for the Bahamas Water and Sewerage Corporation; LisWater and LNEC: Lisbon, Portigal, 2019.