Sabesp

Sabesp is a Brazilian water and waste management company owned by São Paulo state. It is the largest waste management company in the world by market capitalization, providing water and sewage services to residential, commercial and industrial users in São Paulo and in 363 of the 645 municipalities in São Paulo State, typically under 30-year concession contracts. It provides water to 26.7 million customers, or 60% of the population of the state. It provides basic sanitation services, which include all phases (abstraction, treatment, processing, distribution) and the collection, treatment and reuse of sewage. The São Paulo Metropolitan Region and the Regional Systems accounted for 74.5% and 25.5% of the sales and services rendered during the year ended December 31, 2004 respectively. Sabesp also supplies water on a bulk basis to municipalities in the São Paulo Metropolitan Area, in which it does not operate water systems to local operators.