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.
Read more about this topic: Water Privatization
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