Water thou shalt not drink? Access to drinking water and intermediaries in informal settlements of the Buenos Aires conurbation (1983-2015)

Abstract

Latin America has the greatest volume of fresh water per capita in the world. However, part of its population does not have regular access to safe water sources or has to make do with precarious water provision services. Although Argentina is one of the countries in the region with higher percentages of population served by drinking water networks, the latter are unequally distributed. Among the most affected sectors are those residing in informal settlements in the metropolitan area of Buenos Aires, the country’s largest city. In this respect, the article poses the following questions: How do those sectors access drinking water networks? Why do they have less access than other sectors? On the basis of ethnography and other research tools, the paper argues that: 1) they access drinking water networks through alternative means that necessarily entail the co-participation of neighbors; and 2) their limited access is due, among other things, to the way they relate to the State in order to have the service extended to their neighborhoods. In view of these results, the article discusses notions regarding the private, public, and community management of the service and questions ideas such as governance and coproduction.