Following on the heels of the liberalisation of the telephone, electricity and gas industries, there is intensive talk of the liberalisation of the water supply, too. According to economic theory, greater competitive pressure is supposed to induce innovations and to lower expenses, bring fresh capital into the industry and help consumers by providing a better, cheaper supply. But unfortunately this is generally not the case in a "real" liberalisation, which involves such other factors as competition to win end customers or competition "on the market", in which case the discussion concentrates more on the competition "for the market" between suppliers of operator services.

It is the purpose of the study to examine the possible options for more competition. In this case, existing gaps and deficiencies in the regulative framework are to be exposed (highlighted) and recommendations were developed for shaping and expanding upon the framework in such a way that undesired side-effects can be avoided.