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  The top five water companies in the world, including Paris-based Veolia Water and SUEZ Environnement, are losing their share of the market for privatizing water services, according to the recently released 13th edition of Pinsent Masons’ (London, U.K.) Water Yearbook. These five companies, which also include SAUR, Agbar, and RWE, had accounted for about 73% of the private water market in 2001, but by 2011, the share of the top five had shrunk to 21%, as more local players have gained ground. Pinsent Masons said that the development of regional utilities in China is partially responsible for this shift, as five Chinese companies are now serving more than 15 million people. Smaller, more localized companies have “stepped in where the major players are less keen to tread,” said Mark Lane, head of Pinsent Masons’ water group. “These smaller companies are also more flexible, allowing them to create new initiatives when conventional approaches have failed to deliver satisfactory services.” According to the report, only 5% of the world’s population was served by private water companies in 2009, a figure that the report predicts will have increased to 13% by the end of 2011 and will grow further to 21% by 2025.