Abstract

The essay deals with the issue of the public role in water service pricing, highlighting on the connection between the water supply financing and governance (through the concepts of private price, political price, public price or tariff, tax). It focuses on the change of the public role in the economy and the (water) service of general economic interest. The public role in water service pricing is analized in the framework of economic regulation, pointing out some critical issues in the regulatory authority’s independence and guarantee of water’s minimum daily need.