Regulation of Water and Wastewater Services

Book excerpt: This book, published in collaboration with ERSAR, presents a unique account of governance and regulatory methods used by different countries, states and municipalities that will help regulators and governments all over the world to improve their regulatory approaches. It is the first book to compile such an amount of data about regulatory processes of a wide number of countries from the five continents. It discusses how the characteristics of water and wastewater services call for regulation and how different countries apply distinct regulatory methods. By showing 18 country case-studies, the book offers an interesting perspective as the regulatory models adopted vary immensely depending on geographical location, nature and strength of institutions and governments, political ideology, features and level of development of the countries. In addition, it provides examples of best practices that may be important for policy-makers to enhance the regulatory processes adopted in each country. It looks closely at rules imposed by state and local governments concerning regulatory issues and how they are being applied. Regulation of Water and Wastewater Services covers the fundamental and practical concepts and issues regarding the regulation of water and wastewater services. It describes and compares the regulatory methods adopted in several countries and provides a global overview on regulation. There is detailed coverage of topics such as quality of service regulation, economic regulation and public service obligations. This book is suitable for regulators, academic researchers and students, consultants, operators and managers, policy-makers and other stakeholders. Visit the IWA WaterWiki to read and share material related to this title: http://www.iwawaterwiki.org/xwiki/bin/view/Articles/RegulationofWaterandWastewaterServicesAninternationalcomparison Author: Rui Cunha Marques, Center of Urban and Regional Systems (CESUR), Instituto Superior Tecnico, Technical University of Lisbon in collaboration with the Portuguese Water and Waste Services Regulation Authority (ERSAR)