Water industry

There are a variety of organizational structures for the water industry, with countries usually having one dominant traditional structure, which usually changes only gradually over time.

Ownership of water infrastructure and operations

• local government, the most usual structure worldwide, public utility
• national government, in many developing countries, especially smaller ones
• private ownership, more common in the developed world, see for example Water privatisation in England and Wales
• co-operative ownership and related NGO structures, public utility

Operations

• local government operating the system through a municipal department, municipal company, or inter-municipal company
• local government outsources operations to private sector, i.e. private water operators
• national government operations
• private water operators own the system
  • BOTs, private sector building parts of a water system (such as a wastewater treatment plant) and operating it for an agreed period before transferring to public sector ownership and operation.
• cooperation and NGO operators

Functions

• Integrated water system (water supply, sewerage (sanitation) system, and wastewater treatment)
• Separation by function (e.g. Dutch system where sewerage run by city, water supply by municipal or provincial companies, and water treatment by water boards), though some Water Supply Companies have merged beyond municipal or provincial borders.
• Other separation (e.g. Munich, separated into three companies for bulk water supply, water and wastewater network operations, and retail)

Water quality standards and environmental standards relating to wastewater are usually set by national bodies.

• In England, the Drinking Water Inspectorate and the Environment Agency.
• In the United States, drinking water standards for public water systems are set by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) pursuant to the Safe Drinking Water Act. EPA issues water pollution control standards in conjunction with state environmental agencies, pursuant to the Clean Water Act.
• For countries within the European Union, water-related European Union directives are important for water resource management and environmental and water quality standards. Key directives include the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive 1992 requiring most towns and cities to treat their wastewater to specified standards, and the Water Framework Directive 2000, which requires water resource plans based on river basins, including public participation based on Aarhus Convention principles.
• International Standards (ISO) on water service management and assessment are under preparation within Technical Committee ISO/TC 224.

Using available data only, and during 2009-2010, the ten largest water companies active globally were (largest first): Veolia Environnement (France), Suez Environnement (France), ITT Corporation (US), United Utilities (UK), Severn Trent (UK), Thames Water (UK), American Water Works Company (US), GE Water (US), Kurita Water Industries (Japan), Nalco Water (US).