Drinking water, also known as potable water, is water that is safe to drink or to use for food

preparation. The amount of drinking water required varies. It depends on physical activity, age,
health issues, and environmental conditions.
Globally, by 2015, 89% of people had access to water from a source that is suitable for drinking –
called improved water source. Nearly 4.2 billion people worldwide had access to tap water, while
another 2.4 billion had access to wells or public taps.The World Health Organization considers
access to safe drinking-water a basic human right.
About 1 to 2 billion people lack safe drinking water, a problem that causes 30,000 deaths each week.
More people die from unsafe water than from war, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said in
2010. ( Albertiri, Heidi. May 2018)
According to the World Health Organization's 2017 report, safe drinking-water is water that "does not
represent any significant risk to health over a lifetime of consumption, including different sensitivities
that may occur between life stages".[7]:2
A 'safely managed drinking water service" is "one located on premises, available when needed and
free from contamination". By 2015, 5.2 billion people representing 71% of the global population used
safely managed drinking water service.[8]
The terms 'improved water source' and 'unimproved water source' were coined in 2002 as a drinking
water monitoring tool by the JMP of UNICEF and WHO. The term, improved water source refers to
"piped water on premises (piped household water connection located inside the user’s dwelling, plot
or yard), and other improved drinking water sources (public taps or standpipes, tube wells or
boreholes, protected dug wells, protected springs, and rainwater collection)".[9] Improved sources are
also monitored based on whether water is available when needed (5.8 billion people), located on
premises (5.4 billion), free from contamination (5.4 ), and "within 30 minutes' round trip to collect
water.'[8]:3 While improved water sources such as protected piped water are more likely to provide
safe and adequate water as they may prevent contact with human excreta, for example, this is not
always the case.[9] According to a 2014 study, approximately 25% of improved sources contained
fecal contamination.[10]

References[edit]
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