Bringing Safe Water to Phnom Penh's City

Abstract

The Earth Summit in Johannesburg in 2002 reaffirmed the commitment to cut by half the number of people in the world with inadequate access to clean water and sanitation by the year 2015. Privatization or private provision have been advocated for urban water supplies. However, water utilities in many developing countries, including Asia, still operate within an inefficient and monopolistic environment with ineffective regulators. Cambodia’s Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority is unlike typical Asian water utilities. The previously decrepit and war-torn water supply system has been changed radically, from one with incompetent management which lost both water and customers, into a model public water utility with a 24-hour drinking water service, subsidies to the poor through connection fees and tariffs, non-revenue water reduced to 6.15%, and successful collection of bills increased to over 99%. This article describes the way in which the reforms have been achieved.