Access to water

The goal of the 2030 Agenda

Sustainable Development Goal 6.1 of the 2030 Agenda calls for achieving universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water. Progress towards this goal is monitored with the indicator of “Safely Managed Drinking Water Services”, i.e. from an improved water source (for example through piped water, boreholes or tube wells, protected dug wells, protected springs and packaged or dispensed), located locally, available when needed and free of contamination.

Numbers

According to data from the World Health Organization, from 2000 to 2022, more than 687 million people had access to safely managed water, leading to an increase in global population coverage from 61% to 73%.

Comparison between geographical areas

Source: Progress on household drinking water, sanitation and hygiene 2000-2022: Special focus on gender. World Health Organization, World Bank Group, UNICEF, 2022.

In 2022, there were 83 countries that were on track to reach the objective of universal access (>99%) to at least "basic services" (compared to 70 countries in 2015). In 32 countries, drinking water access coverage was less than 75%, including four countries in sub-Saharan Africa where less than half the population had access to basic services in 2022.

Behind the global figures, significant disparities in access remain between countries: while many developed countries have now achieved universal access, coverage with safely managed drinking water sources varies widely in developing regions.
The data reveal marked disparities, with the poorest and those living in rural areas least likely to use a basic service. Strong geographic, social, cultural and economic inequalities persist not only between rural and urban areas, but also in cities where people living in low-income, informal or illegal settlements typically have less access to improved sources of drinking water than other residents.

Source: Progress on household drinking water, sanitation and hygiene 2000-2022: Special focus on gender. World Health Organization, World Bank Group, UNICEF, 2022.

Why is it important to ensure access to safe drinking water?

Ensuring safe and readily available access to water for all would go a long way towards reducing disease and death, especially among children, whether the water is used for drinking, domestic use, food production or recreational purposes. Improving water supply and sanitation, as well as better management of water resources, can also stimulate countries' economic growth and contribute significantly to poverty reduction.

Health effects

Contaminated water and poor sanitation are linked to disease transmission, and absent, inadequate or inappropriately managed water, sanitation and hygiene services expose individuals to preventable health risks. Inadequate management of urban, industrial and agricultural wastewater means that the drinking water of hundreds of millions of people is dangerously contaminated or chemically polluted.
The natural presence of chemicals, particularly in groundwater, can also have a significant impact on people's health. Where water is not readily available, people may decide that handwashing is not a priority, thus increasing the likelihood of hazards and illnesses such as diarrhea, which is the best-known food- and drink-related illness. 
However, there are also other risks for health. In 2021, the World Health Organization estimated that more than 251.4 million people needed preventive care for schistosomiasis, an acute and chronic disease caused by parasitic worms contracted through exposure to infested water. In many parts of the world, insects that live or breed in water carry and transmit diseases such as dengue fever. Some of these insects, known as vectors, breed in clean, rather than dirty, water, and household drinking water containers can serve as a breeding ground. The simple intervention of covering water storage containers could reduce the reproduction of vectors and fecal contamination of water at domestic level.

Economic effects

When water comes from improved, more accessible sources, people spend less time and effort physically collecting it, which means they can be productive in other ways.
Better water sources also mean fewer healthcare costs, as people are less likely to get sick and incur in medical bills, and are better able to remain economically productive. This can also lead to greater personal safety and a reduction in musculoskeletal disorders by reducing the need to make long or risky journeys to collect and transport water.
Since children are particularly at risk of water-related diseases, access to better water sources can lead to better health, and therefore better school attendance, with positive long-term consequences for their lives.

Effects on gender equality

Inequalities in drinking water service levels can impact women and men differently. This is partly due to differences in the specific sanitation needs of women and men and partly due to differences in gender norms, roles and responsibilities related to sanitation at the regional level.
Improving accessibility to drinking water is therefore a consolidated priority given that in many countries women and girls are primarily responsible for household chores and are also responsible for obtaining water for drinking, cooking, cleaning and care. of children and elderly people.

Source: Progress on household drinking water, sanitation and hygiene 2000-2022: Special focus on gender. World Health Organization, World Bank Group, UNICEF, 2022.

New investments for this challenge

The Joint Monitoring Program for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (JMP) promoted by the World Health Organization and UNICEF (WHO/UNICEF) publishes estimates at an international level on the progress of activities relating to drinking water, sanitation and hygiene (hence the 'acronym WASH).
This program estimates that achieving the goals of universal access to “safely managed” drinking water by 2030 will require a six-fold increase in the current rate of progress, and an equally substantial increase in current levels of investment. Even to achieve universal coverage of “basic services” the rate of progress would have to double.

Source: Progress on household drinking water, sanitation and hygiene 2000-2022: Special focus on gender. World Health Organization, World Bank Group, UNICEF, 2022.

Business sectors that can contribute to progress

To achieve the objective of universal access to safe and accessible drinking water, planning for water safety and risk management along the entire water supply chain is essential: investments must concern all phases of water supply, from the collection basin to the consumer, with the aim of constantly guaranteeing the safety and acceptability of a drinking water supply.

Source: State of the world’s drinking water: an urgent call to action to accelerate progress on ensuring safe drinking water for all. World Health Organization, World Bank Group, UNICEF, 2022.

The economic sectors that could be protagonists of this development are those of Utilities, Construction & Engineering and Building Products, involved in activities along the entire water supply chain for the purposes of human consumption:
- in the construction of new infrastructures in countries that currently do not yet have them and in the renovation of existing infrastructures whose aging poses potential problems in satisfying growing demand as the population grows and higher incomes and industrialization lead to more intense water;
- in the management of wastewater collection, treatment and recycling plants to recover water, nutrients or energy, a process which if carried out appropriately and safely can produce multiple benefits, including an increase in food production, greater resilience to scarcity of water and nutrients and greater circularity in the economy;
- in the management of desalination plants, a process that allows the removal of the salt fraction from water containing salt, generally from sea water, with the aim of obtaining water with a low salt content suitable for human consumption and which would allow an increase in supply of water in countries with high drought rates and which consequently do not have stable access to fresh water and which would allow us to combat the effects of climate change on a global level;
- in efficiency measures to reduce losses of water resources along the supply chain;
- in the development of Water management and technologies solutions for the development of better water management technologies and artificial intelligence technologies.

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