Independent Water Entrepreneurs in Latin America The Other Private Sector in Water Services

It is now widely accepted that Small Scale Providers of water supply and sanitation services play an important role in extending access to unserved, mainly poor, urban households outside the reach of public utilities in many developing countries. Although the scale and magnitude of the small scale service market varies from country to country and city to city, recent studies indicate that small scale providers serve about 25% of the urban population in Latin America and East Asia, and 50% of the urban population in Africa Estimates are as high as 80% for sanitation in urban Africa, and demand for these types of services is growing in excess of 3% per year on average.

Small scale providers come in many shapes and sizes. They range from independent borehole fed networks serving as many as 14,000 households to mobile water tankers serving individual households and institutions. Many have been around for several decades, and some for at least 70 years. However, It was not until 1998, that small scale providers began to gain international recognition as key players in the water and sanitation sector. Until then they were considered a transitory and temporary phenomenon to be ignored rather than supported, as they ran counter to the monopoly service provision model, preferred and desired by many Governments.

The results of a study of the aguateros in Asuncion and Ciudad del Este In Paraguay, carned out in 1998 by the Water and Sanitation Program and published here for the first time; found that one third of all water connections serving up to half a million persons had been made in these two cities over the 20 year period preceding the study. These connections had been provided by between 350 and 600 independent aguateros at a cost of roughly USD 250 per household, and offered water at a price consistently below the charges levied by the public water company. The study concluded that rather than shun small scale providers, efforts should be focused on learning how best to encourage and support these private sector investments in the provision of water and sanitation services.

These findings led to a series of regional studies on small scale providers in Africa, Latin America and Asia that share the following lessons: small scale providers are neither trivial nor transitory, and contrary to popular thinking, are more often competitive rather than exploitative. Most offer services of a good quality at a price that may be comparable to or lower than that offered by the public utility. Furthermore, they typically operate without external funding - making their own investments in infrastructure, often operate at lower cost- despite the lack of public subsidies; and respond quickly to demand - readily adapting their services to meet consumers needs.

This report outlines the findings of the six-country study of small scale providers in Latin America carried out by the Water and Sanitation Program. The lessons, drawn from Paraguay, Argentina, Colombia, Guatemala, Peru and Bolivia, not only highlight the important role that small scale service providers play in the delivery of services to underserved, primarily poor, households in urban areas, but also underscore the need for policy makers in all countries to "look with a fresh view at all water providers who are investing and active in their cities" and establish a conducive policy and regulatory framework that enables households to obtain access to water and sanitation services from any actor that is able and willing to meet their needs.

Contents:

1- Introduction

2- Services offered and business models
Location and Origins
Cooperatives: A Hybrid Form
Evolution: From carts and trucks to Fixed Networks
Service performance and price
Financial self-reliance
Innovation and responsiveness to customer

3- Market Role
A large market share
A competitive Market
Constraints to Expansion: The Legal and Regulatory Environment

4- Constraints and Strategies
Business Constraints
Strategies to Reduce and Mitigate Risk

5- Next Steps and New Roles

6- Conclusion

TABLES
Table I. Independent water providers in six Latin American cities
Table 2. Competition examples and strategies
Table 3. Risks faced by IPs in LA

BOXES
With Aguateros, No Wait for Water in Paraguay
What is the Best Size for a Water System
Regulations for Independent Operators in Colombia
"We will benefit from regulation if we are recognized as legitimate actors"