Water Privatization - Private Water Operators

Private Water Operators

Private water operators come in very different forms from multinational corporations to small enterprises. According to the Pinsent Masons Water Yearbook 2010–11, 909 million people (13% of the world population) were served by private operators. The largest private water companies are:

• the French firm Veolia Environnement (Vivendi), serving 125.4 million in 2011;
• the French firm Suez, serving 124.3 million people in 2011 with its US subsidiary United Water and its Spanish subsidiary Aguas de Barcelona;
• the Spanish firm Fomento de Construcciones Y Contratas SA (FCC), serving 28.2 million people in 2011
• the German firm RWE, serving 18.3 million people in 2011
• the Italian firm ACEA, serving 18 million people in 2011
• the British firm Thames Water, indirectly owned by Macquarie Group, an Australian investment bank;
• the French firm SAUR, serving 12.4 million in 2011; and
• the US firm American Water, serving 16.8 million in 2011

Domestic water operators have a strong presence in Brazil, Colombia, China, Malaysia, and the Philippines.

Public water companies also sometimes participate in bids for private water contracts. For example, the Moroccan state-owned water utility ONEP has won a bid in Cameroon and the Dutch publicly owned water firm Vitens has won a management contract in Ghana.