市政供水系统几乎没有竞争，一般不会破产，因此缺乏有效运行的激励。私营系统也面临着问题:利率监管消除了创新的激励，而且由于私营系统纳税，它们在竞争中处于劣势。为了在美国“创造公平的竞争环境”，可以将公有供水公司转变为独立的政府所有企业，与私营供水公司一样遵守相同的税收和监管政策。这一过渡阶段和全面私有化都将扩大市政税基，鼓励全成本定价，并减少对政府融资的依赖，以升级设施和满足饮用水法规的要求。包括68个参考文献、表格、图表。

Municipal water supply systems face little competition and generally cannot go bankrupt, so they lack incentives to operate efficiently. Private systems also face problems: rate regulation removes incentives to innovate, and because private systems pay taxes, they are at a competitive disadvantage. To "level the playing field" in the United States, publicly owned water-supply companies could be transformed into stand-alone, government-owned enterprises subject to the same tax and regulatory policies as private water companies. Both this transitory phase and full privatization would expand a municipality's tax base, encourage full-cost pricing, and lead to less reliance on government financing to upgrade facilities and meet drinking water regulations. Includes 68 references, tables, figures.