ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with a brief presentation of how the principles of commercialization are incorporated in well-recognized approaches to water services. It shows how commercialization of water utilities, in spite of many critiques, has become the policy paradigm in the water sector. In much of the literature on water services, adjustments to the models are sometimes proposed or tolerated, but only as temporary measures to help achieve the original ideal of a commercial utility that operates at arms-length of the government. The shift prompted by the appropriate technology movement led to another development in thinking about water supply and sanitation. The privatization decade sparked off an intense debate on how to best organize water services provision, focusing on which incentive structure would make operators perform well. Private water providers thus were increasingly regarded by governments and donors as long terms partners in extending and improving water supply services.
