Private Operators and Rural Water Supplies : A Desk Review of Experience
This study examines experiences with using the private sector to manage domestic water supplies serving dispersed populations or very small settlements in rural areas. The potential contribution from private operators is well-known for small towns....
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English en_US |
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World Bank, Washington, DC
2014
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2010/11/13156153/private-operators-rural-water-supplies-desk-review-experience http://hdl.handle.net/10986/17248 |
| Summary: | This study examines experiences with
using the private sector to manage domestic water supplies
serving dispersed populations or very small settlements in
rural areas. The potential contribution from private
operators is well-known for small towns. The unanswered
question is whether private operators are an option for more
remote rural areas with low population density. This review
therefore focused on operations that: 1) serve dispersed
populations or settlements with fewer than 5,000 inhabitants
in rural areas, 2) have been undertaken on a significant
scale, and 3) engage individuals or for-profit organizations
to manage water supplies. The rationale for examining rural
private operator models is twofold: sustainability and
expanded access. First, rural private operators may offer a
solution to the high rates of nonfunctioning water points,
especially in rural Africa. Second, private operator models
may enable governments to leverage private capital and
rationalize government subsidies for rural domestic water
infrastructure. Those capacities would enable governments,
in turn, to expand access to safe rural domestic water supplies. |
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