International Private Water Association

The International Private Water Association (IPWA) was established in 1999 by Philip Dyk with the help of the association management company Marketshare Inc.

According to its website, IPWA was formed "to address the changing dynamics" in the "water/wastewater infrastructure project and service arena. IPWA serves as a conduit between the public and private sector players."

IPWA is a member of the Sustainable Water Infrastructure Investment Coalition and the World Water Council, a think tank focused "on the privatization of water -- water for profit."

IPWA vice-president Richard M. Temple wrote in a May 2003 article, "Experience shows that public sector provision is in many cases inadequate and cannot cope with the huge capital needs of the water and sewage network. ... The way forward lies in combining the skills of the public and private sectors through public/private partnerships (PPPs) to make use of their complementary skills to address the particular needs of a community."

Lobbying
IPWA supported federal legislation introduced in 2008, H.R. 6194, the Sustainable Water Infrastructure Investment Act (SWIIA). "The bill would bring water and wastewater projects out from under the state volume cap on private activity bonds, and thereby significantly expand the availability of low-cost financing for water infrastructure projects," according to a description by the National Association of Water Companies. Representative Bill Pascrell introduced the bill, which was co-sponsored by Rep. Philip English. The bill was referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means, but not voted on.

Exhibitions
IPWA has participated in the Middle East Electricity exhibition, an event promoting companies providing water services. "The countries of the Middle East have recognised that it is essential for them to work in close conjunction with the private sector to build a lasting infrastructure," IPWA's Kathy Shandling said in July 2007. "The region is set to spend a staggering amount - over $120US billion - on water investments during the next 10 years as without this investment experts estimate that by 2050 the Middle East could face a severe water shortage and providing adequate amounts of safe water for drinking and sanitation could be an unsurmountable challenge."

Conferences
In July 2002, IPWA took part in the "Partnering for Clean Water in Asia Conference," held in Bangkok, Thailand. According to a press release, the conference engaged "U.S. technology and service providers in the implementation of large-scale projects in the areas of water supply for industrial, commercial, and residential use; wastewater treatment; desalination; irrigation; decontamination of potable water; and flood control and flood forecasting. The combined value of projects to be presented at the conference is expected to exceed several billion dollars." The event was organized by the U.S. Trade and Development Agency, the U.S. Departments of Commerce and State, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Agency for International Development and the U.S. - Asia Environmental Partnership.

A 1999 conference organized by IPWA and the Singapore Trade Development Board also focused on water issues in Asia. Conference participants urged governments in the region to revise laws, "to allow greater private participation in the water industry, the region's next driving force for infrastructure development. ... According to published estimates of the Asia Development Bank, the region needs to spend at least 80-100 billion US dollars between 1995 and 2000 in the water sector," to update infrastructure.

Founding
A March 1999 press release announcing IPWA's formation said it was launched "to represent the common interests of firms involved in the evolving private water infrastructure business which is expected to require more than $700-billion in investments in the next 10 years." The steering committee that helped create IPWA had representatives from "a geographically balanced spectrum of companies involved in private water infrastructure," including Asea Brown Boveri, Atlantis Water Fund, Cameron McKenna LLP, Cemonics, Enertech, Hagler Bailly, Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy, Morrison & Foerster, OMI, Inc., PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, Stone & Webster, Thelen, Reid & Priest, Vivendi, and the Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy.

Members
IPWA has four different classes of members: advisory board membership, for development banks, aid agencies, export credit agencies and others "actively involved in the water and wastewater infrastructure/service sectors"; corporate board membership; basic corporate membership; and individual membership.

Members listed on the IPWA website, as of February 2009, include:
 * AIDIS USA, the Inter American Association of Sanitary Engineering and Environmental Sciences
 * Asian Development Bank
 * UK Department for International Development (DFID)
 * European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)
 * Export Development Corporation of Canada (EFC)
 * Inter-American Development Bank (ADB)
 * International Finance Corporation (IFC)
 * Institute of the Americas
 * Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC)
 * North American Development Bank (NADBank)
 * Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)
 * Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC)
 * Public-Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility (PPIAF)
 * Transparency International
 * United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
 * Export-Import Bank of the United States
 * Yale Center for Law and Policy

A 2003 article stated that IPWA "includes water companies ranging from Vivendi's main subsidiary in North America, U.S. Filter, to the British company, Bi-Water. The IPWA is organized to 'promote opportunities for private water project development globally' by arranging meetings with government water ministries and local authorities."

Contact information

 * c/o Kathy Shandling
 * International Private Water Association
 * c/o 125 West 55th Street, 14th floor (consultant)
 * 10019 New York
 * United States
 * Telephone: +1-212-873-0920
 * E-mail: kshandling (AT) nyc.rr.com
 * Website: http://www.ipwa1.org

Related SourceWatch articles

 * Water wars
 * World Water Council
 * Bradford Gentry - advisor

External articles

 * "Anti-privatisation Wave Sinks Corporate Lobby Group," Corporate Europe Observatory, accessed May 2006.