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Clean Water and Sanitation

Access to clean water and sanitation is improving, but remains a major problem.

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Deaths per capita taken from the Global Burden of Disease database1, with overall population figures supplied by the World Bank 2.

Clean Water Access

Access to clean water, defined as access to an improved water source or access to a safe drinking water supply, is improving but is still far from universal.

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Sources: World Bank 3 and WHO/UNICEF 4, via Our World in Data 5.

Although clean water challenges are concentrated in low-income countries, high-income countries are not immune. An estimated 1.6 million people in the United States lack indoor plumbing facilities 6.

Providing Clean Water

The cost of providing universal clean water access has been estimated at $1.04 trillion annually as follows.

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Source: Strong et al. 7.

These figures are more comprehensive than some other estimates and hence larger 89.

The benefit-cost ratio of basic water supply has been estimated at 6.8 10, 5.5 for access to sanitation 11, and 2.0 for access to improved drinking water sources 11.

Problem:
Disease Caused by Poor Water and Sanitation
Solution:
Prioritize Clean Water
Problem:
Arsenic Contaminated Drinking Water
Solution:
Ultrafiltration Systems - U.S.

References

  1. Global Burden of Disease Collaborative Network. "Global Burden of Disease Study 2017 (GBD 2017) Results". Seattle, United States: Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME). 2018. ↩

  2. The World Bank. "Population, total". Accessed December 11, 2019. ↩

  3. World Bank. "World Development Indicators". December 2020. ↩

  4. World Health Organization / UNICEF. "Data". WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (JMP). Accessed January 8, 2020. ↩

  5. Ritchie, H., Roser, M. "Clean Water". Our World in Data. November 2019. ↩

  6. Riggs, E., Hughes, J., Irvin, D., Leopard, K. "An Overview of Clean Water Access Challenges in the United States". Global Water Challenge, UNC Environmental Finance Center. October 2017. ↩

  7. Strong, C., Kuzma, S., Reig, P. "Achieving Abundance: Understanding the Cost of a Sustainable Water Future". World Resources Institute. January 2020. ↩

  8. Hares, S. "The cost of clean water: $150 billion a year, says World Bank". Reuters. August 2017. ↩

  9. Hutton, G., Varughese, M. "The Costs of Meeting the 2030 Sustainable Development Goal Targets on Drinking Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene". World Bank. Accessed January 8, 2020. ↩

  10. Hutton, G. "Benefits and Costs of the Water Sanitation and Hygiene Targets for the Post-2015 Development Agenda". Copenhagen Consensus Center. January 2015. ↩

  11. Hutton, G. "Global costs and benefits of drinking-water supply and sanitation interventions to reach the MDG target and universal coverage". World Health Organization. 2012. ↩ ↩2