In Latin America and the Caribbean, it is estimated that 76 million of the region's 510 million people do not have access to safe water. Clean water is in very short supply in towns and cities, where people depend on elaborate systems of aqueducts, pipes, treatment plants and sewers to get their water. Although small scale providers of water supply and sanitation services have been around for several decades, it was not until the late 1990s that they began to gain international recognition as key players in the water and sanitation sector. Small scale water supply and sanitation service providers extend access to underserved communities—mainly poor, urban households outside the reach of public utilities in many developing countries. This report offers a first overview of small scale independent providers in six Latin American countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Guatemala, Paraguay and Peru. In the cities reviewed, private providers reach approximately 25% of the local populations, which reflects the key role of this stakeholder in the Millennium Development Goal of supplying water services to an additional 120 million urban dwellers by 2015 and reducing by half the current coverage.