French companies, Suez Lyonnaise des Eaux and Vivendi, world leaders in water management, jointly submitted on 17th September 1998 a prequalification bid for the privatization of the water and wastewater for the state of Rio de Janeiro.

This billion US $ project is the most important of its kind worldwide to date in the water sector due to :

• The size of the city and its complex urban planning
• The size of the population - 12 million inhabitants
• The drinking water techniques at stake, in particular operating a 3.5 million m3 per day plant
• The environmental problems caused due to the management of a wastewater system covering such a large area.