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Private Water Service Providers
Quick Facts

Privately Owned Drinking Water Utilities

• 33.5 million Americans get water from a privately owned drinking water utility.¹
• Private water companies own about 16% of the nation’s community water systems.²
  
• 51% of American drinking water utilities are privately owned, or about 26,700 utilities.³
• Private Water Systems produce 4.6 billion gallons of water a day, or about 1.7 trillion gallons per year.⁴
• Private water utilities maintain 100,000 miles of distribution mains (water pipes) to serve their customers.⁵
• The private drinking water business is a $4.3 billion per year business.⁶
• Twelve Water Utility Companies are publicly traded:
  • American Water
  • American States Water Co.
  • Aqua American Inc.
  • Artesian Resources Corp.
  • BIW LTD.
  • California Water Service Group
  • Connecticut Water Service, Inc
  • Middlesex Water Co.
  • Pennichuck Corp.
  • SJW Corp.
  • Southwest Water Co.
  • York Water Co.

Privately Owned Wastewater Utilities

• There are about 4,200 privately owned wastewater facilities (POTWs) in the U.S.⁷
• 20% of all wastewater utilities (POTWs) in the U.S. are privately owned.⁸
• About 3% of Americans get wastewater service from private wastewater utilities.⁹

Water and Wastewater Management Contracts

• More than 1300 government entities (typically municipalities) contract with private companies to provide water and/or wastewater services.¹⁰
• The industry has grown by about 8% per year since 1999.¹¹
• These contracts regularly get renewed at better than a 93% renewal rate.¹²
• Annually, it is a $1.7 billion industry.¹³

BACK

1. US Environmental Protection Agency, 1995 and 2000 Community Water System Survey
2. US Environmental Protection Agency, 1995 Community Water System Survey
3. US Environmental Protection Agency, 2000 Community Water System Survey
4. US Environmental Protection Agency, 2000 Community Water System Survey
5. NAWC Financial and Operating Data and US Environmental Protection Agency, 2000 Community Water System Survey
6. NAWC Financial and Operating Data and US Environmental Protection Agency, 2000 Community Water System Survey
7. US Environmental Protection Agency
8. Congressional Budget Office, “Future Investment in Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure,” November 2002.
9. Congressional Budget Office, “Future Investment in Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure,” November 2002.
10. Public Works Financing, March 2006
11. Public Works Financing, March 2006
12. Public Works Financing, March 2006
13. Public Works Financing, March 2006