| Submitted by: | amit007 |
| Date: | 02 / 17 / 2009 |
| Category: | Mixed Topics |
| Words | Pages: | 18348 | 74 |
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Privatization of Small Water Systems
Prepared By:
Harold J. Smith, Vice President
Raftelis Financial Consulting, PA
December 23, 2003
National
Rural Water
Association
Privatization of Small Water Systems
By: Harold J. Smith, Vice President
Raftelis Financial Consulting, PA
Executive Summary
Water utilities both large and small are facing complex challenges as they strive to provide safe, affordable drinking water to their customers. In an effort to overcome these obstacles, many utilities are changing the way they do business and a number of these utilities are exploring the idea of privatization as a means of utilizing industry advances to improve service and reduce costs.
In the water industry, privatization involves private sector participation in the operation, management and sometimes the ownership of utilities that have historically been run by a public owner. The basic concept behind privatization, is that private sector water companies that focus exclusively on water and wastewater may be able to run utilities more efficiently than public agencies that must also provide other services such as fire and police protection.
The private sector has played an integral role in providing clean drinking water to the citizens of the US. During the 1800’s, most water utilities were privately owned, for profit companies; however, over time, non-profit, public entities such as municipalities and water authorities began playing a much larger role in the water treatment and delivery business. In today’s market, the vast majority of the nation’s water is treated and delivered by publicly owned utilities.
There are a variety of forms of privatization available to utilities that are interested in increasing the level of private sector involvement in their business including: outsourcing, contract operations, design-build-operate, asset lease and asset sale. The primary difference between these different...
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