See also
Water supply and sanitation by country | ||
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| Asia | ||
| Australasia | ||
| Europe |
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| South America | ||
This is a list of the different responsibilities in the water supply and sanitation sector in several Latin American and Caribbean countries. It includes the responsible institutions which set sector policies, agencies of economic regulation and service providers in urban and rural areas. The list can only give a simplified description in many cases due to overlapping responsibilities and/or unclear definitions. For more information on water supply and sanitation in each country, please click the respective country link.
| Country | Sector policy | Economic regulation | Service provision (urban areas) | Service provision (rural areas) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Argentina | At the provincial level | 14 out of 23 provinces have regulatory bodies | Public, cooperative and private entities of various forms | |
| Bolivia | Ministry of Water | Superintendencia de Saneamiento Básico (SISAB) | Municipalities, EPSAs (mixed or public companies and cooperatives) | Water boards or water committees |
| Brazil | Ministry of Cities | Municipalities; Regulatory agencies in 14 states | Municipalities, state water and sewerage companies | |
| Chile | Department of Sanitation Programs of the Ministry of Public Works | Superintendencia de Servicios Sanitarios (SISS) | Private owned or private operated companies at the regional level | Cooperatives and water boards |
| Colombia | Ministry of Environment, Housing and Territorial Development | Potable Water and Basic Sanitation Regulation Commission (CRA), Superintendency of Public Services | Municipalities, direct or through public or private utilities | Communal water boards |
| Costa Rica | Ministry of Health | Autoridad Reguladora de los Servicios Públicos (ARESEP) | Instituto Costarricense de Acueductos y Alcantarillados (AyA), municipalities, Empresa de Servicios Públicos de Heredia (ESPH S.A.), Administrative Committees of Rural Water Systems (CAARs) and Administrative Associations of Rural Water and Sanitation Systems (ASADAS), private organizations that operate water systems | |
| Cuba | Instituto Nacional de Recursos Hidraulicos (INRH) and ministries | Provinces and municipalities through their respective water and sanitation directorates, PSP in Habana | 3,220 rural water systems | |
| Dominican Republic | Secretariado Técnico de la Presidencia | None | Regional companies in the largest cities, the Instituto Nacional de Aguas Potables y Alcantarillados (INAPA) | Community-based water boards |
| Ecuador | Subsecretaría de Agua Potable, Saneamiento y Residuos Sólidos (SPASyRS) under the Ministry of Urban Development and Housing and others (overlapping responsibilities) | None, ECAPAG in Guayaquil | Municipalities (directly or through utilities), PSP in Guayaquil | More than 5,000 Potable Water Boards |
| El Salvador | Administración Nacional de Acueductos y Alcantarillados (ANDA) | Administración Nacional de Acueductos y Alcantarillados (ANDA) (40%), municipalities, decentralized service providers, housing developers | More than 800 community-based organizations, including water boards and cooperative development associations | |
| Guatemala | No clear leadership; Various institutions, including the Ministry of Health, the Instituto de Fomento Municipal (INFOM), the Ministry of Environment and the Planning Secretariat in the President's Office | None | Municipalities, public, communal and private entities | Communities through water committees |
| Guyana | Ministry of Housing and Water | Public Utilities Commission (PUC) | Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) (public) | |
| Haiti | De facto: Ad hoc interventions by the Minister of Public Works, Transport and Communications; no long-term policy | CAMEP (Centrale Autonome Métropolitaine d’Eau Potable) in Port-au-Prince metropolitan area, and SNEP (Service National d’Eau Potable), in secondary cities | Water committees (Comités d’Aprovisionnement en Eau Potable - CAEPs) | |
| Honduras | Consejo Nacional de Agua Potable y Saneamiento (CONASA) | Ente Regulador de los Servicios de Agua Potable y Saneamieto (ERSAPS), local regulatory agencies | Municipalities, The Servicio Autónomo Nacional de Acueductos y Alcantarillados (SANAA), PSP in San Pedro Sula | Water boards (Juntas Administradoras de Agua – JAA) |
| Jamaica | Ministry of Water and Housing (MWH) | Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) | Public National Water Commission (NWC) and three smaller private service providers | NWC and Parish Councils |
| Mexico | Comisión Nacional del Agua (CONAGUA), State Water Commissions at the regional level | None | Municipalities and states directly or through cooperatives, public or private utilities | Water boards (Juntas) |
| Nicaragua | Comisión Nacional de Agua Potable y Alcantarillado Sanitario (CONAPAS) | Instituto Nicaragüense de Acueductos y Alcantarillados (INAA) | Empresa Nicaragüense de Acueductos y Alcantarillados (ENACAL), municipalities, departmental water company in Rio Blanco | Potable water committees |
| Panama | Ministry of Health | Autoridad Nacional de Servicios Públicos (ANSP) | Instituto de Acueductos y Alcantaeillados Nacional (IDAAN), municipality of Boquete | Juntas Administrativas de Acueductos Rurales (JAARs), Health Committees |
| Paraguay | Ministry of Public Works | Ente Regulador de Servicios Sanitarios (ERSSAN) | Empresa de Servicios Sanitarios de Paraguay (ESSAP), Juntas de Saneamiento, Aguateros (informal service providers in small towns) | |
| Peru | Vice Ministry of Construction and Sanitation (VMCS); National Sanitation Board (DNS) | Superintendencia Nacional de Servicios de Saneamiento (SUNASS) | Servicio de Agua Potable y Alcantarillado de Lima (SEDAPAL), 53 Empresas Prestadoras de Servicios Municipales (EPS), municipalities | Administrative water committees |
| Uruguay | Dirección Nacional de Aguas y Saneamiento (DINASA) within the Ministry of Housing, Land Management and Environment | Unidad Reguladora de Servicios de Energía y Agua (URSEA) | Obras Sanitarias del Estado (OSE) | |
| Venezuela | Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources | De facto none | Compañía Anónima Hidrológica de Venezuela (HIDROVEN), five state water companies, the Corporación Venezolana de Guayana (CVG), municipalities, urban cooperatives | Community-based organizations |
Water supply and sanitation by country | ||
|---|---|---|
| By region | | |
| Africa |
| |
| Asia | ||
| Australasia | ||
| Europe |
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| North America | ||
| South America | ||
Water supply is the provision of water by public utilities, commercial organisations, community endeavors or by individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes. Public water supply systems are crucial to properly functioning societies. These systems are what supply drinking water to populations around the globe. Aspects of service quality include continuity of supply, water quality and water pressure. The institutional responsibility for water supply is arranged differently in different countries and regions. It usually includes issues surrounding policy and regulation, service provision and standardization.
Water supply and sanitation in Latin America is characterized by insufficient access and in many cases by poor service quality, with detrimental impacts on public health. Water and sanitation services are provided by a vast array of mostly local service providers under an often fragmented policy and regulatory framework. Financing of water and sanitation remains a serious challenge.
Drinking water supply and sanitation in Ecuador is characterized by a number of achievements and challenges. One key achievement is a significant increase in both access to an at least basic water source and at least basic sanitation. Significant increases in coverage in urban areas were achieved both by the public utility EMAAP-Q, serving the capital Quito, and the private concessionaire Interagua in the country's largest city Guayaquil. However, municipalities rely overwhelmingly upon central government investment, rather than recouping the costs at a local level. Another problem is intermittent water supply, which affects half of the urban areas. Also, only 8% of all collected wastewater is being treated. The level of non-revenue water is estimated at 65%, one of the highest in Latin America. Addressing these challenges is complicated by the atomization of the sector: A multitude of stakeholders – the Ministry of Housing, the Emergency Social Investment Fund, the Solidarity Fund, the State Bank, NGOs, municipalities and others – intervene in the sector. Despite the existence of an Interinstitutional Committee for Water and Sanitation there remains room to improve coordination.
Water supply and sanitation in Colombia have been improved in many ways over the past decades. Between 1990 and 2010, access to improved sanitation increased from 67% to 82%, but access to improved water sources increased only slightly from 89% to 94%. In particular, coverage in rural areas lags behind. Furthermore, despite improvements, the quality of water and sanitation services remains inadequate. For example, only 73% of those receiving public services receive water of potable quality and in 2006 only 25% of the wastewater generated in the country underwent any kind of treatment.
Access to drinking water and sanitation in El Salvador has been increased significantly. A 2015 conducted study by the University of North Carolina called El Salvador the country that has achieved the greatest progress in the world in terms of increased access to water supply and sanitation and the reduction of inequity in access between urban and rural areas. However, water resources are heavily polluted and the great majority of wastewater is discharged without any treatment into the environment. Institutionally a single public institution is both de facto in charge of setting sector policy and of being the main service provider. Attempts at reforming and modernizing the sector through new laws have not borne fruit over the past 20 years.
Public water supply and sanitation in Germany is universal and of good quality. Some salient features of the sector compared to other developed countries are its very low per capita water use, the high share of advanced wastewater treatment and very low distribution losses. Responsibility for water supply and sanitation provision lies with municipalities, which are regulated by the states. Professional associations and utility associations play an important role in the sector. As in other EU countries, most of the standards applicable to the sector are set in Brussels. Recent developments include a trend to create commercial public utilities under private law and an effort to modernize the sector, including through more systematic benchmarking.
Water supply and sanitation in Chile were once considered efficient and equitable but in 2022 Chile struggled to reliably provide water throughout the country. Chile's water resources have been strained by the Chilean water crisis, which was partially caused by a continuing megadrought that began in 2010, along with an increased demand for agricultural and other commercial interests.
Access to at least basic water increased from 94% to 97% between 2000 and 2015; an increase in access to at least basic sanitation from 73% to 86% in the same period;
Drinking water supply and sanitation coverage in Honduras has increased significantly in the last decades. However, the sector is still characterized by poor service quality and poor efficiency in many places. Coverage gaps still remain, particularly in rural areas.
Drinking water and sanitation in Nicaragua are provided by a national public utility in urban areas and water committees in rural areas. Despite relatively high levels of investment, access to drinking water in urban areas has barely kept up with population growth, access to urban sanitation has actually declined and service quality remains poor. However, a substantial increase in access to water supply and sanitation has been reached in rural areas.
Drinking water supply and sanitation in Argentina is characterized by relatively low tariffs, mostly reasonable service quality, low levels of metering and high levels of consumption for those with access to services. At the same time, according to the WHO, 21% of the total population remains without access to house connections and 52% of the urban population do not have access to sewerage. The responsibility for operating and maintaining water and sanitation services rests with 19 provincial water and sewer companies, more than 100 municipalities and more than 950 cooperatives, the latter operating primarily in small towns. Among the largest water and sewer companies are Agua y Saneamientos Argentinos (AYSA) and Aguas Bonarenses S.A. (ABSA), both operating in Greater Buenos Aires, Aguas Provinciales de Santa Fe, and Aguas Cordobesas SA, all of them now publicly owned. In 2008 there were still a few private concessions, such as Aguas de Salta SA, which is majority-owned by Argentine investors, and Obras Sanitarias de Mendoza (OSM).
Water supply and sanitation in Venezuela is currently limited and many poor people remain without access to piped water. Service quality for those with access is mixed, with water often being supplied only on an intermittent basis and most wastewater not being treated. Non-revenue water is estimated to be high at 62%, compared to the regional average of 40%. The sector remains centralized despite a decentralization process initiated in the 1990s that has now been stalled. Within the executive, sector policies are determined by the Ministry of Environment. The national water company HIDROVEN serves about 80% of the population.
The water and sanitation sector in Peru has made important advances in the last two decades, including the increase of water coverage from 30% to 85% between 1980 and 2010. Sanitation coverage has also increased from 9% to 37% from 1985 to 2010 in rural areas. Advances have also been achieved concerning the disinfection of drinking water and in sewage treatment. Nevertheless, many challenges remain, such as:
Costa Rica has made significant progress in the past decade in expanding access to water supply and sanitation, but the sector faces key challenges in low sanitation connections, poor service quality, and low cost recovery.
Despite many years of concerted efforts and achievements in expanding coverage and improving service sustainability, many issues remain to be addressed in the water and sanitation sector. Key issues include: (i) a low level of coverage for both water and sanitation, in particular in rural areas; (ii) a low level of cost recovery, despite a legal obligation for tariffs to recover costs; and (iii) an institutional framework that is only partially effective.
The Dominican Republic has achieved impressive increases in access to water supply and sanitation over the past two decades. However, the quality of water supply and sanitation services remains poor, despite the country's high economic growth during the 1990s.
The drinking water supply and sanitation sector in Guatemala is characterized by low and inconsistent service coverage, especially in rural areas; unclear allocation of management responsibilities; and little or no regulation and monitoring of service provision.
Water supply and sanitation in Cuba is characterized by a high level of access. A state-owned enterprise is in charge of providing services throughout the country within the country's socialist, centrally planned Cuban economic system. As a surprising exception in a Socialist country, a mixed public-private company with partial foreign ownership provides services in parts of Havana.
Water supply and sanitation in Panama is characterized by relatively high levels of access compared to other Latin American countries. However, challenges remain, especially in rural areas. Panama has a tropical climate and receives abundant rainfall, yet the country still suffers from limited water access and pollution. Intense El Niño periods, periodic droughts, reduce water availability. Multiple factors like urbanization, impacts of climate change, and economic development have decreased water resources. The high frequency of floods in recent years and the lack of corresponding measures resulted in tension among the local population. Rapid population growth in recent decades led to an unprecedented increase in freshwater demand. Regional inequality exists in water resources and water governance. An estimated 7.5-31% of Panama's population lives in isolated rural areas with minimal access to potable water and few sewage treatment facilities.