Two billion people lack access to safe drinking water.

• ‘Safe drinking water’ meets three criteria: it must be free from contamination, located at home, and available when needed.

• Almost six billion people have safe drinking water, leaving two billion without it.

The Global Water Crisis

• Only around 156 million people get their water from streams or lakes, making up 1.4% of the global population.

• Around three-quarters of the two billion people have access to a piped water source or protected well that is probably safe to drink, but it is not located in their home, is not always available, or is not completely contamination-free.

The Role of ‘Safe Drinking Water’

• ‘Safe drinking water’ became the main indicator of progress on clean water only in 2017.

• 95% of the world uses an improved water supply, even in the poorest countries.

• Countries can quickly increase access to a (probably) clean piped, spring, or borehole source, but the biggest challenge is getting those pipes into each individual household and ensuring the source is completely contamination-free.

The Impact of Unsafe Water

• Unsafe water leads to over 8,00,000 deaths every year due to the spread of diarrheal diseases, other diseases, and malnutrition.

• These deaths tend to be concentrated in lower-income countries where fewer people have safe water to drink.