Abstract
Privatization of water services has long been an option for US municipal governments and water systems. There was a surge of interest in the prospects for private sector participation in water utility ownership and operations during the 1990s, both in the United States and abroad. This prompted the Water Science and Technology Board of the US National Research Council to appoint an expert committee to review the issues and experience with water services privatization in the United States. The committee was appointed in 1999 and its report, Privatization of Water Services in the United States: An Assessment of Issues and Experience, was approved and released in early 2002 (NRC, Citation2002). This paper summarizes that committee's report and findings.