water supply and sanitation in colombia water supply and sanitation in colombia water supply and sanitation in colombia have been improved in many ways over the past decades. between 1990 and 2010, access to improved sanitation increased from 67% to 82%, but access to improved water sources increased only slightly from 89% to 94%. in particular, coverage in rural areas lags behind. furthermore, despite improvements, the quality of water and sanitation services remains inadequate. for example, only 73% of those receiving public services receive water of potable quality and in 2006 only 25% of the wastewater generated in the country underwent any kind of treatment. not to be confused with water resources management in colombia or irrigation in colombia. colombia: water and sanitation data water coverage (improved definition) 94% (2010) sanitation coverage (improved definition) 82% (2010) continuity of supply 20 hours out of 24 (average 2003) average urban water use (l/c/d) 60 (2006) average urban water and sewer bill (us$/month) 11.40 (2006) share of household metering n/a share of collected wastewater treated 25% annual investment in wss us$10/capita share of self-financing by utilities 26% share of tax-financing n/a share of external financing n/a institutions decentralization to municipalities full, since 1989 national water and sanitation company none water and sanitation regulator yes (one single-sector, one multi-sector) responsibility for policy setting ministry of the environment, housing and regional development sector law yes (1994) number of urban service providers more than 1,500 number of rural service providers more than 12,000 overview a comprehensive sector policy, introduced in 1994, aimed at increasing water and sanitation investments through targeted transfers to municipalities, improving service quality and efficiency by promoting private sector participation in the poorest parts of the country where utilities were not performing well, the establishment of autonomous regulatory agencies at the national level, increased cost recovery, and protecting the poorest through cross-subsidies in the form of area-based tariffs. this same policy has been pursued and refined by different consecutive governments. responsibilities in the sector are divided as follows: the vice-ministry of water and sanitation archived 2012-11-28 at archive.today, created in october 2006 within the ministry of environment, housing and territorial development is in charge of setting sector policy. regulation is the responsibility of two separate institutions at the national level, the potable water and basic sanitation regulation commission (cra) and the superintendency of residential public services (sspd), a multi-sector regulatory agency. service provision is the responsibility of 1,500 water and sanitation service providers in urban areas and probably more than 12,000 communal organizations providing services in rural and peri-urban areas. while most urban service providers are public, in 2004 there were 125 private and 48 mixed public-private water companies in the country. cost recovery in the sector has improved substantially. between 1990 and 2001, the average tariff for water and sanitation in colombia increased from us$0.32/m3 to us$0.81/m3, equivalent to an increase of 153%. as a result, 24% of investments were self-financed by utilities in 2004. other features of the sector are the existence of some large, well-performing public companies; a strong and stable participation by the local private sector in service provision; and some well-performing community-based organizations in peri-urban areas. recently, the government of álvaro uribe has initiated a number of complementary policies to accelerate increases in access to water and sanitation services, such as the strengthening of the roles of departments in the governance of the sector, a program for marginal urban neighborhoods and an increase in investments for wastewater treatment. access in 2015, in colombia 91% of the population had access to "improved" water, 97% and 74%, in urban and rural areas, respectively. in 2015, there were still around 4 million lacking access to "improved" water. regarding sanitation, 81% of the population had access to "improved" sanitation, 85% and 68%, in urban and rural areas, respectively. service quality in addition to issues of service coverage, colombia’s water and sanitation sector faces issues of service quality. however, service quality has improved considerably over the last fifteen years. the biggest cities tend to offer better service quality than smaller towns and rural areas. wastewater treatment plant in itagüí, antioquia continuity of supply. the average duration of daily water service has increased from 15.36 hours in 1993 to 19.82 hours in 2003 at the national level. in the four biggest cities of the country, service is continuous. nevertheless, rationing of water and interrupted sanitation are ordinary incidents in small towns and rural areas. drinking water quality. according to a survey of the superintendencia de servicios públicos domiciliarios (sspd) or superintendency for residential public services in 2004, 72% of the users had water of potable quality. in some cases, the water supply system’s pressure is not adequate, increasing the risk of bacterial contamination. sewerage. sewage collection systems do not have sufficient hydraulic capacity to handle wastewater flows, especially in poor neighborhoods, which results in combined sewer overflows and sanitary sewer overflows. wastewater treatment. in 2006, 25% of the wastewater generated in the country underwent some kind of treatment. the remaining 75% is discharged without any treatment, contaminating a significant part of the natural water resources. history the water and sanitation sector in colombia underwent one cycle of centralization and decentralization within the past several decades. since the enactment of a comprehensive new sector policy in 1994, various governments have pursued the same set of basic policies, including targeted transfers to municipalities, private sector participation, regulation, cost recovery and a system of cross-subsidies. centralization (1950s to late 1980s) in the first half of the 20th century, municipalities were responsible for the provision of basic water and sanitation services in colombia. in 1950, similar to many other countries, a centralized system was adopted and the instituto de fomento municipal (insfopal) or municipal development institute was created. empresas departamentales de acueducto y alcantarillado (acuas) or departmental water and sewerage companies were created, consisting of the departments, the municipalities and insfopal, which took care of managing and maintaining the infrastructure of the member communities. in that way, investment at the national level was channelled into this important area of public health. in 1976, within the framework of a change in sector policies, the acuas were transformed into empresas de obras sanitarias (empos) or sanitary works companies at the regional or municipal level, which were put in charge of financing, planning, developing and managing public services in most municipalities. however, some municipalities kept the responsibility for service provision at the local level and created municipal companies. the most notable case are the empresas públicas de medellín (epm), a municipally owned multi-sector utility created in 1955. at the national level, the water sector institutionally depended on the ministry of health. decentralization (late 1980s to 1993) in the 1980s, the sector was in crisis, characterized by low investment, poor cost recovery and poor service quality in most of the country. as a result, the government decided to break up insfopal at the end of the 1980s and to devolve the responsibility for service provision back to the municipalities after four decades, except for some cases like the valle de cauca department, where the regional companies continued providing the services. furthermore, the institutional responsibility for the sector was transferred from the ministry of health to the ministry of economic development. this change was not only an administrative change, but it introduced a different focus and perspective to the sector. new financing system and public-private partnerships (1994-2006) the two liberal governments of césar gaviria (1990-1994) and ernesto samper (1994-1998) pursued a policy of economic opening and business modernization. in the spirit of these policies, the government established a comprehensive new sector policy that aimed at increasing water and sanitation investments through targeted transfers to municipalities, improving service quality and efficiency by promoting private sector participation in the poorest parts of the country where public utilities were not performing well, the establishment of autonomous regulatory agencies at the national level, increased cost recovery, and protecting the poorest through cross-subsidies in the form of area-based tariffs. the basis of this sector policy was established by law 142 of july 1994, at the end of president césar gaviria’s term of office. with some modifications to that law in 2001, the same policy continues to be pursued to today despite several changes of governments. in 1995, the first water and sanitation concession in colombia was given to a mixed public-private company in the city of cartagena, followed by a second concession in barranquilla in 1996 and more concessions in the next years. in 2002, the government launched a program of business modernization to introduce private sector participation also in small and medium-sized municipalities, leading to significant improvements in quality and efficiency of service provision in some municipalities. drinking water use has decreased by 25% between 1996 and 2001. tariff increases and the inclusion of low income users who did not have access to piped water before influenced this trend. creation of a vice-ministry for water and sanitation and departmental plans (since 2006) the government of álvaro uribe wants to rapidly increase coverage, overtaking the millennium development goals for the sector and to improve service quality, especially in small towns and rural areas, which have the highest requirement of service improvement. at the end of 2006, a vice-ministry for water and sanitation archived 2012-11-28 at archive.today was created. it has initiated four new programs: departmental water and sanitation plans archived 2012-11-27 at archive.today programa de saneamiento para asentamientos archived 2012-12-04 at archive.today (spa) or sanitation program for settlements within the framework of an integral quarter improvement program municipal waste water sanitation program (saver) archived 2011-07-07 at the wayback machine to increase the rate of treated municipal water handwashing program archived 2012-11-29 at archive.today water storage campaign the departmental water and sanitation plans program provides such services as planning and harmonizing resources and has regional systems of service provision at the level of each department of the country. the program was first implemented in four departments which have some of the most difficult conditions: sucre, córdoba, magdalena and la guajira. the program also aimed to overcome the sector’s fragmentation into many small utilities to benefit from economies of scale. in 2010 30 departmental plans were completed and published, covering almost all of the country's 32 departments. in about 2011, the responsibility for water supply and sanitation, and with it the vice-ministry, was transferred to the newly created ministry of housing, cities and territories. as of august 2012, the vice-ministry's website made no more reference to the departmental water and sanitation plans. the handwashing program, the spa and saver were still in place. in addition, two new programs were started: a "water culture" (cultura del agua) program that combats apathy and lack of interest concerning water utilities, promotes water reuse and the protection of watersheds, and fights water losses, illegal connections and the non-payment of water bills. a "transparent water" program to ensure greater visibility and a wider implication of various stakeholders in water projects, especially during an early stage of implementation. responsibility for water supply and sanitation a map of colombia. the current responsibilities and policies in the water and sanitation sector in colombia are primarily defined in the 1991 constitution and in law 142 of 1994 (ley de servicios públicos domiciliarios or public housing services law) policy and regulation the vice-ministry of water and sanitation, created in october 2006 within the ministry of environment, housing and territorial development is in charge of setting sector policy. this sector policy is defined in the framework of national policy established by the departamento nacional de planificación (dnp) or national planning department. responsibility for regulating water services is vested in two separate institutions at the national level. the comisión de regulación de agua potable y saneamiento básico (cra) or potable water and basic sanitation regulatory commission defines criteria for efficient service provision and sets the rules for tariff revision, but is not in charge of controlling the application of these rules. the latter is the responsibility of the superintendencia de servicios públicos domiciliarios (sspd) or superintendency for residential public services, a multi-sector regulatory agency. the government aims at improving the performance of the water and sanitation sector through: (1) strengthening the regulatory framework; (2) implementing technical assistance programs; (3) providing financial support to promote modernization and efficient management as well