...The Business of Water and Sustainable Development ... ranges over many issues such as smart metering, ecological sanitation in developing countries, demand management and water pricing. There are five parts: 1. General theory; 2. Privatization; 3. Technology and regionally focussed case studies; 4. on the rural environment; and 5. on the urban environment. The first part on theory discusses what is perhaps the most thorny issue relating to water: whether it is a good or a right. Should water be free? The answer the book provides is No stating that such a right would be worthless when the river runs dry. The five chapters under the part on privatization show no clear cut agreement for and against but conclude that the private sector has significant role to play and that the negative effects of private sector involvement need to be carefully managed. The part on technology has chapters on geothermal energy for desalination, dry sanitation options, water metering and water for isolated communities. Broken hand pumps litter South Africa because the local population cannot repair and maintain them. Sustainable technology means the local communities must be able to maintain equipment. Low tech solutions are just as important as high tech solutions. The part on case studies discusses how important it is to deal with social systems and agricultural reforms. For example, certain crop species in Mediterranean areas require too much water for irrigation and should not be subsidized. Reasonable access to basic safe water is defined by the World Health Organization as 20 litres of clean water per capita from a source within 1 km. of the person's home. The editors, Jonathan Chenoweth and Juliet Bird have attempted to show how meeting the Millennium Declaration of the UN General Assembly (2000) to halve the proportion of people with no access to safe drinking water can be met * <i>The Gallon Environment Letter</i> Vol. 10 No. 17 (3 October 2005) *