Water pricing in Chile

What is it about?

This chapter focuses on recent pricing experiences in the urban residential and rural sectors. Over the last 30 years, the Chilean govern-ment has successfully incorporated private participation in the water and sanitation sector and implemented a regulatory framework that has contributed to cost recov-ery and affordability of the reform. The service offered has greatly improved in quality and coverage reaching, in 2013, 99.9 % of urban population. National cover-age of sewage treatment has signifi cantly increased from 17 % in 1999 to 99.8 % in 2013. This chapter also presents an overview of Chile’s national Rural Potable Water (APR) program, which has reached almost 100 % coverage in semiconcentrated rural areas. Unlike urban service providers, the rural water-supply and sanitation sector has not been subject to regulation like urban services.

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Why is it important?

The water sector in Chile underwent major changes as a result of decentralization and market reforms. Over the last 30 years, the Chilean government has success-fully incorporated private participation in the urban water and sanitation sector and implemented a regulatory framework that has contributed to cost recovery and affordability of the reform. Thus, Chile’s policy of providing water-supply and sanitation (WSS) services through privatized regional and local water companies has been a notable success.