This paper provides an overview of five major shifts in urban water supply governance in relation to changing paradigms in the water sector as a whole and in water-related research: i) the municipal hydraulic paradigm in the Global North; ii) its travel to cities in the Global South; iii) the shift from government to governance; iv) the (private) utility model and v) its contestation. The articulation of each shift in the Ghanaian context is described from the creation of the first water supply system during colonial time to the recent contestation against private corporate sector participation. Current challenges are outlined together with new pathways for researching urban water governance. The paper is based on a literature review conducted in 2015 and serves as a background study for further research within the WaterPower project.