Private companies have been involved in the provision of drinking water services in various forms in OECD and in developing countries. Are they the ‘heroes’ helping to overcome bad performance of public service providers while financing urgently needed investments in infrastructure where governments fall short? Or are they the ‘villains’ whose quest for higher profit inevitably leads to rising prices for the consumers and lacking care for water quality and infrastructure maintenance?

Drawing on a number of case studies around the world, Manuel Schiffler (KfW Entwicklungsbank) presented his empirical findings on these questions. He has recently published his book "Water, Politics and Money: A reality check on privatization".

Annabelle Houdret (German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik, DIE) and Manuel Schiffler discussed the pros, cons and the future of public and private sector involvement in drinking water services.