Public-Private Partnerships: Water and Wastewater Services in France

ABSTRACT

In France, responsibility for potable water supply and wastewater services has been allocated to the municipal level of government. Water supply and wastewater services can be managed and operated under the authority of municipal governments (la régie) or can be delegated to the private sector through turnkey or full service contracts (concession), leasing arrangements (affermage), or management contracts (prestations de service). About 80 per cent of French people receive their water supply under public-private contracts, and about half the sewage treatment plants in France are operated by private firms.

Relatively few private companies dominate the water supply and wastewater industry. Three are examined here. The Compagnie Générale des Eaux, founded in 1853, is the largest. By the late 1980.7, it employed 138,000 people and supplied water to 22 million people in France and another eight million people through its operations in Europe, North America, Africa, Latin America, and Asia. It also has diversified its activities, and is involved in waste management, energy management, construction, transportation, real estate development. health clinics, and leisure facilities. The Société Lyonnaise des Eaux-DUMEZ, established in 1880, provides water to 10 million people in France and to another 11 million people worldwide. It also is a diversified company and is the largest mortuary company in France. The Société de Distributions d'Eau Intercommunales, created in 1928, is much smaller, distributing water to about 2.4 million people in the South of France. These companies illustrate some alternative ways in which public-private contracts for water supply and wastewater services have been developed in France.