When it comes to discourses over the provision of water and sanitation, debaters on both sides of the spectrum often look towards examples of their argument being implemented to support their claim. Therefore, it shouldn’t comes as a surprise for an advocate of water privatization to cite Chile as being “the world’s leading example of the free-market approach to water law and water resources management”. Citing its success of having “nearly 100 % coverage rates for drinking water and sanitation in urban areas such as Santiago”, along with its consistent improvement in treating wastewater, Chile seems to be a model example of what the US should consider to do when it comes to its water. However, it can be said that the relative success of the …show more content…
Spending approximately $46 million per year on subsidies for about 17.4% of the clients in Chile, this helps the poorest citizens pay the water bills while allowing the water companies to raise tariffs to achieve self financing. As for who is eligible to get these subsidies, The Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Planning (MIDEPLAN) manages the subsidies program where they gather household survey information and determine the amount of subsidies needed for the customers which can ranged from 15% to 85% of the bill; the customer will have this subsidy for 3 years but can renew it if necessary. Given how “the average price of water and sanitation services tripled between 1989 and 2002”, the subsidy system acted as a large, but expensive safety net that softened the blow of these rising rates for poor consumers and is a significant reason to why water privatization was able to be successful and survive for so long. While the people are grateful for everyone being able to get water, critics would say otherwise as one water activist found it ridiculous how the government isn’t “investigating the company and fining them, what the government does is subsidize it. So basically the company charges the tariff it wants…and the government pays the bill”. Unfortunately, the subsidy system isn’t the only fault with water privatization in