Introduction

We start this chapter with a passage from a story by Italo Calvino:

In referring to the taken for granted nature of everyday things, Calvino's work seems a particularly apt literary citation for a study of the management of water supply services within the framework of the foundational economy. Urban water supply and sanitation are the result of a complex process involving public institutions and agencies, private companies and agencies and civil society. The management of the water sector has significant economic and political – but also social, environmental and technological – implications (Lobina, 2013). The ‘miracle’ of a drinkable water supply is a fundamental and indispensable part of the infrastructure of civilized life (Foundational Economy Collective, 2018). Indeed, it is both a product and a service necessary to everyday life, it is consumed daily by all citizens regardless of income, and it is distributed via an infrastructure of pipelines and networks.

However, and this is a serious issue in our view, the availability of something so valuable as drinking water is too often taken for granted, and its importance today is underestimated by the citizens of developed countries. This is not the case for the private companies and investors who have for some time now been aware of the significant potential of water supply services for the extraction of profits and dividends. Therefore, any attempt to better regulate water services in order to obtain social and ecological justice will require moral participation by authorities and companies. In addition, a general shift in citizens’ attitudes, from being passive users to active players, is essential, both in water consumption and in governance.