On October 23, 2009, the World Bank published a new study on the water treatment and distribution activities of major private operators (such as SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT, Veolia, Saur and Agbar) in emerging countries. The study concludes that “well-managed public utilities can be found within the developing world”, but that “the private sector has much to offer”.

Yesterday, I had the chance to participate to the high level finance panel at the 5th World Water Forum, explaining the crisis’ impact on the water sector. The crisis actually places a severe stresses on water systems, even those that are reasonably sustainable in normal times. However, for troubled systems or those which need to raise their level of service to provide water and sanitation to large unserved segments of the population, this economic crisis can have a devastating effect. What can be done to try to alleviate this problem?