The development of water supply and sanitation networks in the cities of Latin America have mostly followed European models, with city-wide systems providing water through a network of pipes controlled by a single operator. This article explores alternatives to this system through a case study of La Paz and El Alto in Bolivia, where many families get their water from cooperatives. The objectives of this article, based on spatial analysis, questionnaires, interviews and observations, is to study the ways in which large technical systems and alternative systems potentially complement one another. The Bolivian case provides an original perspective on the social conditions of possibility for the collective 'self-organization' of water governance.