Key messages
AquaFed has a set of core beliefs or ‘key messages’ on certain issues in the water sector. We believe that although the private sector is not the only solution to the global water crisis, there is no solution without the private sector.
Water is a common good. It is essential for our continued development – economic, social, environmental and health. Therefore, the proper management of water and sanitation resources should always be transparent and under public control. Private operators, working under public contract with transparent performance indicators, offer practical, results-oriented options and solutions for decision-makers wanting to make the best use of resources.
OUR SOLUTIONS:
Private water operators can help tackle climate change
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The impacts of climate change mean utilities must become more resilient. When it comes to protecting and managing water resources, private operators are uniquely positioned with an array of solutions and technical expertise as well as the experience needed to manage the climate risks associated with water, including droughts and floods.
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AquaFed members are at the forefront of circular economy solutions to treat and reuse wastewater so that it can be used for industrial activities, irrigation and even for potable water supply.
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As an industry, private operators have also set targets and goals for decarbonizing water and wastewater treatment plants and making their energy self-sufficient to create a more sustainable future. In more and more cases, treatment plants operated and maintained by private operators are becoming energy self-sufficient and redirecting power to local homes and businesses.
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Another emerging technology, desalination, provides a long-term option for public authorities to tackle water scarcity. Operators are also rapidly innovating technologies that reduce costs and energy use associated with desalination projects.
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Under the PPP model, private operators are highly motivated to innovate, digitalize, and make the best use of available finance and resources. Private operators build local capacity through massive skill transfers and local purchases.
Private operators can secure more finance for water and sanitation
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Private operators give confidence to investors because of their efficiency, expertise and ability to manage the operational risks of a project or program.
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The ability of private operators to make efficient use of resources provides an advantage to municipalities and public authorities in efforts to attract urgently needed private capital to the water and sanitation sector.
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Private operators can play a crucial role in helping utilities to be more efficient, recover costs and re-invest. Utilities need to recover operating costs to attract financing for the future.
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Decisions about tariff policy and investments are for public authorities to make – not private operators. But we believe authorities must implement tariffs that ensure water access to more marginalized populations, supporting those who are unable to pay.
Private operators are committed to job growth and training, increasing skills and capacity
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Increasing the skills and capacity of our workforce is one of the highest priorities when a private operator begins a contract partnership. The goals of the contract can only be achieved with a capable workforce.
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Human resource management is one of the key areas of expertise that private operators can bring when managing a utility or project.
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Private operators have a strong record of workplace gender equality and developing young professionals.
Private operators support good governance through transparency and accountability
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Strong governance, including transparency and accountability, is the absolute fundamental foundation for effective water and sanitation development, regardless of whether the operator is public or private.
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Water governance is making great progress around the world, spurred on by the pioneering work of the OECD and an increasing number of states. But progress needs to be accelerated.
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Data providing information, indicators and measures of water performance should be available for everyone to see. Information on how tax revenues are being spent to support water services should also be published and publicly accessible.
Private operators provide clean, safe, reliable water services
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We believe everyone, in every corner of the world, has a basic right to clean, reliable water and sanitation. Private water operators help meet this obligation by providing greater access, affordability, quality, availability and acceptability criteria of water services delivered to populations across the globe. All of these are tracked by KPIs in every contract, with the risk of losing the contract if performance is not delivered.
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AquaFed and its members have a strong track record of promoting human rights and access to safe drinking water and sanitation at both the national and supranational level, notably through Sustainable Development Goals targets 6.1 and 6.2 to reach full coverage by 2030.
Private operators help manage pollutants of emerging concern
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The world’s legacy of polluted water resources, including PFAS and pesticides contaminants, pose a serious threat to the environment and human health.
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AquaFed strongly believes in making every effort to control and capture pollutants at the source, as well as avoiding the use of pollutants whenever and wherever possible. This effort is paramount to our commitment to preserving and expanding access to water resources, and we are uniquely positioned to manage the resource-intensive complexity of removing pollutants from the urban water cycle.
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If pollutants cannot be banned outright, we believe policymakers must ensure that they are not released into the environment. The Polluter Pays Principle must be applied (possibly through mandatory extended producer responsibility schemes) to remedy any existing or future contamination of drinking water resources and wastewater.