Document Type

Honors Paper

Advisor

Rolf Jensen

Publication Date

2013

Abstract

Lack of accessible clean water impacts millions of people around the world. Throughout the 1990s, the privatization of developing countries’ water sectors was seen as a way to improve inefficient and ineffective water service. While many of the privatization projects failed, it is important to assess the possibility of learning from these mistakes, and better utilizing private sector support as a tool to address global water deficiencies. I set out to show that water privatization can be an effective tool to address urban water needs if the process is conducted correctly. Through the completion of three case studies, I am able to learn from the successes and failures of past projects. The knowledge learned from these studies shows that the way in which a privatization is undertaken greatly affects the outcome of the project. The paper concludes that while privatization could greatly improve the lives of citizens living in urban areas who suffer from water deficiencies, privatization will not greatly influence the water crisis due to the inability to implement the process in rural areas.

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The views expressed in this paper are solely those of the author.