Ensuring quality and affordability in the water services is a fundamental requirement for the social, economic and environmental development of modern societies. Achieving this goal requires dealing with a large diversity of challenges, such as efficiency, investment, governance, procurement and sustainability, while ensuring the alignment of the stakeholder's objectives, often with conflicting expectations. Public-private Partnerships (PPPs) have emerged as a desirable model for Governments to develop and improve water services, particularly due to the shortage of public financing. Although PPPs have proven to be able to deliver value for money in public services provision, the empirical evidence also shows that there are significant risks in the use of this procurement model. Public-Private Partnerships in the Water Sector: From Theory to Practice provides an integrated overview of the life-cycle process for successfully developing and managing PPPs, from the preliminary studies and public tender stage to the contract management and regulation, and also addressing the critical issues on contract design. It provides the theoretical background for the use of PPPs, and addresses the challenging question of implementing and managing PPPs in developing economies. This is a unique manual for those engaged in the water sector and, particularly for Central and Local Governments, private sector operators and academics dealing with the provision of water services and private sector participation in public services. Contents Introduction to the PPPs; The Water sector and the potential use of PPPs; The design of the PPPs contracts: the major Y and N; The preliminary studies and the public tender stage; The contract risk matrix and the problem of renegotiation; The contract management and the regulation of PPPs; The case of institutionalized PPPs or the mixed companies; The use of PPPs in the developing world; The worldwide experience of PPPs in the water sector; Best practices case studies; Concluding remarks Authors: Rui Cunha Marques - Instituto Superior Tecnico - Universidade de Lisboa - Lisbon - Portugal Carlos Oliveira Cruz - Instituto Superior Tecnico - Universidade de Lisboa - Lisbon - Portugal