Hi Santiago, here are a few key points about the potential role of economics, prices and privatization in water sector management:

• Pricing water appropriately can help ensure its sustainable use and conservation. When water is underpriced, it encourages overuse and wastage. Cost-reflective pricing sends a signal about water's economic value.
• However, pricing needs to be implemented carefully to not negatively impact access to a basic human right. Pricing structures should account for socioeconomic realities and protect vulnerable communities.
• Private sector participation through various forms of privatization (e.g. service contracts, management contracts, concessions) is meant to introduce efficiency gains through private management and financing. But it also introduces potential risks like profit motivation conflicting with social/environmental goals.
• In many places, outright privatization has faced public backlash over concerns about accountability, foreign control, and prioritization of profits over citizens' welfare. Hybrid public-private models may achieve efficiency without full privatization.
• Economic instruments like water markets/trading could help allocate scarcer supplies to the highest-value uses, but distributional impacts need oversight. Corruption risks also exist in commercializing a vital sector.

Overall, economics and balanced private involvement have roles in making water management more sustainable and efficient. But non-economic/social factors also matter greatly, requiring inclusive, context-specific solutions mindful of equity, public acceptance, and complex political realities. I hope this helps...regards