Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) for Drinking Water

Goal 6

yardstick for measuring completion

  • said population uses improved water sources
  • source accessible on premises
  • available when needed
  • water free from fecal and priority chemical contamination

improved water sources

  • examples:
    • tap water in dwelling, yard or pot
    • public standposts
    • boreholes, tubewells
    • protected wells and springs
    • rain water
    • packaged and delivered water

unimproved sources

  • unprotected wells and springs
  • surface water

classification of drinking water

  • in order of reducing level of quality, water supply service is classified as follows
    • safely managed:
      • located on premises
      • available when needed
      • free from fecal and priority chemical contamination
    • basic
      • improved source
      • collection time is not more than 30 minutes
      • including round trip and q-ing
    • limited
      • collection time exceeds 30 minutes
      • including round trip and q-ing
    • unimproved
      • unprotected dug well
      • unprotected spring
    • surface water
      • directly from river, dam, lake, pond, stream, canal, or irrigation canal

water supply service considerations

accessibility

  • on premises
  • within 30 minutes
  • continuity of supply
  • sufficiency

contamination-free

  • free from e.coli, thermo-tolerant coliforms
  • free from two chemicals
    • arsenic,
    • fluoride

data collection

direct surveys

  • data is collected about water services across the world through household surveys and censuses
    • available for most DHS and MICS countries
    • self reported continuity and sufficiency by households
    • new modules to test e.coli

sector data

accessibility - distance
  • household connections
  • maximum distances
accessibility - sufficiency
  • continuity of piped supplies
  • different benchmarks and standards
accessibility - contamination
  • typically only formal systems, mainly urban
  • some lack e.coli or thermo-tolerant coliform tests
  • many lack arsenic and fluoride tests
  • some report compliance for multiple parameters

inferences from data collected

  • improved water sources are not always safe
  • piped water supply is safer than other methods, no e.coli in piped water
  • other sources like rainwater harvesting

water contamination levels

fig: water contamination levels across water sources

challenges and responses

data gaps

  • water quality
  • rural areas
  • availability

programmatic implications

  • water quality management
  • water safety plans
  • strengthening regulation
  • progressive regulation

national targets

  • water supply
    • 100% population on improved sources
    • 95% use piped water supplies (not global, important for some local cases)
  • accessibility
    • 100% use improves sources within 30 minutes
    • 95% have water being supplied at the home or courtyard
  • availability
    • 90% of population at 40+ liters per capita per day
    • piped water supplies 24 hours per day (large systems)
    • piped water supplies 12 hours per day
  • quality
    • 100% of piped water meets standards for Arsenic and Fluoride
    • 80% piped water meets e.coli standard 95% of the time
    • 90% piped supply meets standards for residual chlorine (not global, important for some local cases)
    • water safety plans implemented in all piped water supplies (not global, important for some local cases)
  • other (not global, important for some local cases)
    • reduce non-revenue water in piped supplies to 25%
    • 80% of households on piped supplies are metered
    • water bills should not exceed 3% of GNI per capita