The Municipal Council of Sanitation (COMUSA) of Belo Horizonte (MG, Brazil) was created in April, 2004. Since it is recently founded, mainly when compared to other existent municipal councils in Belo Horizonte (environmental and health, among others), COMUSA was conceived with expectations of a good operation, since it could be guided by the previous experience of the oldest councils.However, the Council still has some fragility, mainly structural, which brings barriers to its operation. This study aims to evaluate Pode-se dizer que, no Brasil, os conselhos são a forma de participação e controle social mais arraigadas nas reivindicações dos