Governing Water Services

The governance discourses of the commercialization of water provision and the human right to water are currently the two most prominent governance discourses in the global water services sector. Although the two discourses are informed by different problem definitions and result in distinct policy priorities, water providers are, in practice, guided by both discourses simultaneously. Using the framework of service modalities, this chapter shows how these two discourses become visible in the infrastructure, organization, and finance in the provision of water services. The chapter argues that simultaneously addressing these two discourses necessitates water providers to differentiate the water services that are provided to different consumer groups. Different consumer groups are then serviced through different technologies and infrastructure, by different organizations and under different financial schemes. By accepting service differentiation as a legitimate approach to provide water services, the acceptance of inequalities in the level of service that is delivered to consumers has become mainstream. As long as the governance discourses of commercialization and the human right to water co-exist and steer the water services sector, these inequalities are likely to remain.