Figure 3.41 The Institutional Setup in the Water Sector

In the United Kingdom, regulations are extensive. Environmental regulations are executed by the Environment Agency, which is separate from the independent economic and quality regulator (the Water Services Regulation Authority). This separation enhances the internal transparency and accountability of the regulatory system because decisions are made in the open. However, regulatory agencies should coordinate closely to manage trade-off s. The prime interest of the environmental regulator is to minimize the abstraction from water resources and to enforce stringent standards on disposed sewage. However, the main interest of the economic regulator is to ensure that levied tariff s cover costs, which often means supporting relaxed disposal standards and maximizing the use of natural water resources before considering more expensive and nonconventional options, such as seawater desalination.

• Service provider: Service providers are responsible for providing water services in the city, including water treatment and distribution and associated customer relations. Water sources may be located within the city and managed by the service provider or outside the city and managed by a diff erent water provider. The same service provider should provide storm water collection, fl ood management, and wastewater collection and treatment services. Consolidating these services will help improve the control over all services and promote accountability and more effi cient operations. For instance, a water supplier normally encourages customers to reduce sewage if it also handles the sewage. Suppliers also promote the protection of water resources if they bear the cost of water treatment. Service providers may be private companies (France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and so on), public utilities (Australia, Germany, and South Africa), or municipalities (France, Egypt, Germany, and Jordan). In some cases, multifunction utilities off er water, electricity, and other services. The decision to combine utility services should depend on the scale of related industries and potential cost savings. Moreover, public utilities may outsource some or all of their operations to increase effi ciency.

• Civil society: Civil society should be institutionalized by establishing user associations and appropriate participation channels. This helps ensure public participation in industry development and related decision making.

Policy makers and regulators often consult user associations to assess and ensure the adequacy of policies, legislation, regulations, and service levels. Service providers should recognize users as genuine customers who drive industry revenue and sustainability.

Physical Systems Technology and Spatial Arrangement

Water systems are composed of four main systems: water supply, wastewater, storm water, and reclaimed water. The storm water and reclaimed water systems are similar in confi guration and operation to the wastewater and water supply systems. Figure 3.42 illustrates a typical water system layout. The system includes water and wastewater treatment facilities, distribution

Policy Makers

Regulator

Users Associations Utility

Customers

Figure 3.41 The Institutional Setup in the Water Sector

Source: Author compilation (Khairy Al-Jamal).