Peru wants to partner with companies on water management.
The minister, Edmer Trujillo, said reaching that goal – a core campaign pledge of centrist President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski – will require some 50 billion soles ($15 billion) in investments in water infrastructure projects such as sewage plants, much of which will be built through public-private partnerships.
It also bars local mayors from owning shares in the utilities, part of a bid to "depoliticize" their services, Trujillo said.
"We want them to operate like any other company," Trujillo said in an interview.
"In coming weeks we’ll start the process of looking at initiatives from the private sector."
Trujillo said the government will invest $1.3 billion in water infrastructure this year, up 70 percent from 2016, giving 1 million more Peruvians access to running water.
"This is a priority that’s becoming reality," Trujillo said.
Some 11 million Peruvians live without sewage systems and 5.5 million lack access to potable water, including 1 million in Lima, the capital, according to official data from last year.
Peru has a population of about 30 million.
Trujillo added that in October his ministry will start a 3.8 billion soles, three-year plan to rebuild some 45,000 homes and thousands of miles of roads that were destroyed by severe flooding earlier this year.