Clean water access
“Why do 2.2 billion people still live without safe water to drink?”
Root causes (expand to see solutions)
The hard part of clean water is not the science. Every method of making it safe was worked out generations ago; what is missing is the money and institutions to deliver it.
What's at stake
Beyond the deaths, repeated infection from unsafe water stunts children for life and leaves them too sick to learn. Cholera and typhoid outbreaks overwhelm local clinics, and the hours lost fetching water and recovering from illness keep whole communities poor.
The global picture
Sub-Saharan Africa
High severity
Where the most people lack any safe water source, often walking hours to collect it.
These are the most acute regions and notable examples; the problem reaches many other countries too.