水和卫生部门有着长期的国家补贴传统，这可能会造成巨大的资金流失。补贴通常是合理的，因为它能将账单控制在低收入家庭的承受能力范围内。然而，越来越多的经验证据表明，这些补贴往往无法惠及贫困家庭，其中许多家庭仍然与水和卫生网络没有联系。本文回顾了拉丁美洲在水和卫生补贴方面的经验，特别是智利和哥伦比亚。研究结果表明，即使是最精心设计的补贴计划，也存在非常高的纳入误差。有人认为，在未来，政策制定者将被建议把注意力转向服务联系，而不是用水，并且应该越来越多地考虑更广泛的政策工具，使服务负担得起穷人。 包括4个参考文献、表格、图表。

The water and sanitation sector has a long tradition of state subsidies, which can represent a major financial drain. Subsidies are usually justified in terms of keeping bills within affordability thresholds for low income households. However, there is mounting empirical evidence that these subsidies often fail to reach poor households, many of whom remain unconnected to water and sanitation networks. This paper reviews the Latin American experience with water and sanitation subsidies, with particular reference to Chile and Colombia. The results show that even the most carefully designed subsidy schemes suffer from very high errors of inclusion. It is argued that, in future, policy makers would be well advised to turn their attention tosubsidizing service connections as opposed to water consumption, and should increasingly consider a broader range of policy instruments for making services affordable to the poor. Includes 4 references, table, figures.