Mapped safely managed drinking water service use. (A) number of users (B); percentage of people using an improved drinking water source; (C) map showing fecal contamination (red), lack of accessibility (green), and insufficiency (blue); (D) global administrative area level 1 in LMICS. Credit: Science (2024). DOI: 10.1126/science.adh9578
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A multi-institutional team of environmental scientists has built a computer simulation showing that more than half of all people globally have limited access to safe drinking water. The findings are published in the journal Science.

Rob Hope, with the University of Oxford, has published - (open source - Jim) a Perspective piece - (also open source) in the same journal issue describing the conditions that must be met for an area or region to be classified as having safe drinking water and outlining the work done by the team on this new effort.

In 2020, organizations around the world estimated that approximately 2 billion people globally lacked access to safe drinking water. In this new study, the researchers found evidence that the actual number is more than double that.

As Hope notes, access to safe drinking water means people have access to safe water on demand, whenever they need it. Safe water access also means that water is on the premises—people should not have to travel to find it. And the water they drink must be free of containments such as bacteria or harmful chemicals.

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