ABSTRACT
The applicability of the US Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) principles in Latin America should be analyzed from two levels, which may be referred to as the structural level and the technical level. As a principle, sanitary standards for drinking water are set forth by the central government, Ministry of Health, Secretary of Health, and so on, in coordination with the National Water Service and in application of the Guidelines of the World Health Organization. Although not explicitly referring to drinking water, several norms enacted since the beginning of this decade, as in the case of Bolivia, for example, create Regional Development Corporations in every departmental government to permit decentralization and foster community participation. The corporations are public, decentralized entities. Community participation is also a crucial element in the new scheme. The main parameters for consumer participation are set forth by several constitutional norms enacted since the middle of the 1980s.
