Right to water and sustainable financing

Water is a common good, and access to it is a fundamental human right. Water needs to be managed in a socially responsible way to ensure everyone has a fair share, and to secure its conservation for the benefit of future generations.

Aqua Publica Europea works to help its members realise the right to water, and reconcile it with environmental and financial sustainability.

Members' activities

Promoting Tap Water as Drinking Water

Many people are still wary about the quality of their tap water, even though tap water in Europe is subject to rigorous and frequent controls ensuring it is wholesome and complies with all relevant European standards. APE promotes the exchange on initiatives and communication actions put in place by its

Read
APE Publications and Studies

Water Affordability - Public Operators Views and Approaches on Tackling Water Poverty

Nowadays the international community widely acknowledges that the affordability of water and sanitation services is crucial for the realization of the human right to water . However, water affordability is a multi-faceted concept , encompassing various—and not only economic—dimensions. For this reason, ensuring affordability is a complex task, which entails
APE Events

APE Seminar | How to Ensure Water Affordability: Approaches And Challenges

Italy 10 October 2017

On the 10th of October Aqua Publica Europea and Utilitialia, the national federation of Italian utilities, organised a seminar on Water Affordability during the Festival dell Acqua in Bari (Italy). The aim of the seminar was to present the approaches to ensuring the access to water in different European countries, including Belgium, France, Hungary, Ireland, Italy and Scotland.

Members' activities

Aguas de Cádiz presents its new strategy devised through citizen participation

The Spanish operator Aguas de Cádiz has presented its new strategic plan, which spans over 10 years and foreseen the investment of over 60 million. This plan is unique of its kind in the sense that it was put together through an innovative process of citizen participation. Read more on

APE Events

APE Seminar | Water Affordability in Europe

Belgium 20 October 2016

On the 20th of October 2016, Aqua Publica Europea (APE) organised a seminar on Water Affordability, which was attended by a wide-ranging audience of institutional representatives, experts, NGOs and other stakeholders. The seminar built on the outcomes of an APE report mapping affordability approaches in different European countries.

Members' activities

AEOPAS requests Spanish authorities to implement the human right to water

AEOPAS , the Spanish association of public water operators, has called for a revision of the Spanish legal framework on water In 2010, the United Nations General Assembly recognised access to drinking water and sanitation as a fundamental human right in its resolution A/RES/64/292. In 2013, the European Citizens’ Initiative

Members' activities

Study on residential consumption of water in Wallonia

Aquawal, the Wallon association of water operators, has contributed to a new study on water and electricity consumption in Wallonia (Belgium). The study identifies some interesting factors related to consumption patterns and affordability, namely that the price of water does not seem to influence the consumption patterns of households. In

News

APE Welcomes EP Report on ECI Right2Water

On Tuesday 8 September 2015, the European Parliament adopted an own-initiative report on the follow-up to the European Citizen Initiative (ECI) Right2Water. Aqua Publica Europea, the European Association of Public Water Operators, welcomes the text adopted by the European Parliament, as it provides a very positive answer to the expectations

APE Events

APE-AöW Seminar | Public-Public Cooperation for the Human Right to Water and Sanitation

Germany 26 March 2015

A wide-ranging audience of water operators from different European countries, development agencies’ representatives, and NGOs attended the APE-AöW seminar on “Public-public partnerships for the right to water and sanitation”, which took place at the Berlin Wasser International Fair on the 26th of March.

APE Events

APE Seminar | Setting the Right Price

Belgium 5 December 2014

This seminar on water pricing, organised by APE, was attended by over 80 representatives of water operators, political and institutional entities, civil society’s organisations, practitioners and business associations.The high number and variety of participants proves that the interest for the topic is strong and wide-ranging; it also demonstrates that there is a growing demand for opportunities to publicly debate over the future of water resources management.

APE Publications and Studies

Water pricing as a key element of sustainable water management

This report, edited by the Working Group 1 on Financing and Tariffs, argues that water pricing alone cannot reconcile the conflicting objectives of cost recovery, 'adequate' incentives and affordability. Good governance, transparency and an institutional framework that supports investments also represent key conditions for tackling the challenges that water operators