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Hannah Ritchie, Fiona Spooner, and Max Roser

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Share of the population not using an improved water source

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Improved drinking water sources are those that can deliver safe water. They include piped water, boreholes or tube wells, protected dug wells, protected springs, rainwater, and packaged or delivered water.

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Estimated annual number of deaths attributed to unsafe water sources per 100,000 people.

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People Using Safely Managed Drinking Water

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People Using Safely Managed Drinking Water

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This is the citation of the original data obtained from the source, prior to any processing or adaptation by Our World in Data. To cite data downloaded from this page, please use the suggested citation given in Reuse This Work below.

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Share of the population using safely managed drinking water

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A safely managed drinking water service is defined as one located on premises, available when needed, and free from contamination.

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CFR Education from the Council on Foreign Relations

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Is there a global water crisis? In this free resource, learn how climate change is causing water scarcity to worsen worldwide.

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​​​By: Alan Woolf, MD, MPH, FAAP, FACMT, FAACT

Water is the best beverage you can serve active, growing kids. ​However, it is essential for their health that their drinking water be reliably free from harmful contaminants. It's especially important considering that children drink much more water for their size than adults.

Here is information to help ensure the water your kids drink is safe.

How is drinking water safety regulated?

Municipal water systems

Today the drinking water in the United States is among the safest in the world. The quality of municipal tap water is regulated by the Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974. Later laws have set drinking water standards for chemicals known to be in some municipal water supplies.

Contaminations can occur from time to time. Contaminants that can cause illness in the drinking water include germs, nitrates, man-made chemicals, metals, radioactive particles and byproducts of the disinfecting process.

Private wells

Private wells are not federally regulated. They should be periodically tested by owners for nitrates, coliform bacteria and other environmental toxins such as arsenic, uranium and perfluoroalkyl substances ( PFAS). Testing guidance for private well owners is available from local, state and tribal authorities on their websites. (See "Well Water Safety & Testing: AAP Policy Explained.")

Tips to help ensure your family's drin​king water is safe

You can get water quality information from your town or county health department or your state environmental agency. Local water companies are required to report what is in the water each year. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) also has a Safe Drinking Water Information Hotline (1-800-426-4791 and Emergency Response Hotline (1-800-424-8802). Well water should be tested for nitrates and coliform bacteria yearly and for other contaminants every 3 years or so.

Other steps you can take:

Have well water tested for nitrates before giving it to infants under one year of age.

If your private well has been contaminated, contact a local professional with expertise in private well construction and remedia​tion. Ask for advice on "shock chlorination" or other strategies to fix the problem.

Contact your local water department to see if the standpipe from the town's water main to your house is made of lead. If so, it should be replaced.

Use cold water for cooking and drinking. Contaminants can build up in hot water heaters.

Drinking water that may be contaminated with germs should be boiled and then allowed to cool before drinking. Boil for about one minute. However, it is important to remember that boiling water only kills bacteria and other germs; it does remove toxic chemicals or lead​ and may, in some cases, concentrate them.

Clean your faucet's screen (aerator​) regularly. Sediment, debris and lead can collect there and get into your water.

Point-of-use filters: If you don't like the taste or smell of your tap water, filters made with activated carbon or other absorbent material will remove the off-taste or smell. Such filters will also remove some (although not all) undesirable chemicals without removing fluoride that prevents tooth decay.

Reverse-osmosis filtering systems may be needed for some private wells to remove natural and manmade chemical contaminants.

How can tap water become contaminated?

soil and rocks that naturally contain chemicals and minerals such as arsenic, radon and uranium

fertilizers, pesticides or other chemicals applied to land near the water

animal or human waste from large industrial animal farms, sewage overflow or faulty septic systems

flooding, wildfires and other events worsening with climate change.

manufacturing, mining or fracking operations

cracks or corrosion in pipes or other problems in the water distribution system

landfills or National Priorities List (NPL or "Superfund') sites

disasters such as industrial chemical or oil spills,nuclear power plant incidents and war or terrorist attacks

Both municipal water systems and private wells can be contaminated. Causes may include:

Where is drinking water contamination a risk?

Water contamination is most likely to happen in small municipal systems that serve less than a thousand people. However, many different municipal water systems include older, lea​d-​containing pipes. These require special strategies (adjusting the water's pH, for example) and monitoring to keep lead out of the drinking water. Ideally, these leaded water mains and standpipes should be replaced with newer, non-lead alternatives.

When to use bottled water

Unless there are known contamination problems in your community's water supply or your private well has been compromised, it is not necessary for families to purchase bottled water. Bottled water is generally much more expensive than tap water. It also generates a lot of plastic waste that is not good for the environment. In addition, fluoride typically is not added to bottled water, and additional fluoride treatments may be needed for children drinking only bottled water.

More information

​​About Dr. Woolf

Alan Woolf, MD, MPH, FAAP, FACMT, FAACT is a pediatrician and a professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. He s​erves as the associate chief medical education officer at Boston Children's Hospital (BCH) and the director of its Pediatric Environmental Health Center and its fellowship training program in pediatric environmental health. He also directs the Region 1 New England Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit. Dr. Woolf is a member of the Executive Committee of the AAP's Council on Environmental Health & Climate Change.​

American Academy of Pediatrics Council on Environmental Health and Climate Change (Copyright © 2023)

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Water is the best beverage you can serve active children to help keep them hydrated. However, it is essential for their health that their drinking water be reliably free from harmful contaminants. It's especially important considering that children drink much more water for their size than adults.

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Goal 6: Clean water and sanitation - The Global Goals

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Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.

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Skip to main content

As You Read, Think About: How should people respond to a crisis?

Some kids are afraid of spiders or snakes or ghosts. But in Flint, Michigan, children are terrified of tap water. It started in April 2014, when smelly yellow and orange liquid began flowing from the faucets in people's homes. Some residents developed mysterious health problems: red, scaly rashes and painful stomach cramps. Other people's hair began to fall out in clumps.

For months, Flint residents complained that the water was poisoning them. And for months, state officials said the water was safe. Until they admitted it wasn't.

In the fall of 2015, those officials confirmed people's worst fears: Flint's water was contaminated with lead, a highly toxic metal. Exposure to lead can cause serious health problems, including brain damage in young kids. And for a year and a half, Flint residents had been drinking the poisoned water and using it to cook and bathe.

Within months, city, state, and federal officials all declared a state of emergency in Flint. Donations of money and bottled water poured in from around the country. But the damage had been done. Flint's nearly 100,000 residents-including 8,000 kids under age 6-had been exposed to alarming levels of lead. And 12 people had died from a disease linked to the tainted water.

Some kids are afraid of spiders or snakes or ghosts. But in Flint, Michigan, children are terrified of tap water. It started in April 2014. That is when smelly yellow and orange liquid began flowing from the faucets in people's homes. Some residents developed mysterious health problems. They got red, scaly rashes. They had painful stomach cramps. Other people's hair began to fall out in clumps.

For months, Flint residents complained that the water was poisoning them. And for months, state officials said the water was safe. Until they admitted it was not.

In the fall of 2015, those officials confirmed people's worst fears. Flint's water was contaminated with lead. Lead is a highly toxic metal. Exposure to it can cause serious health problems. It can even cause brain damage in young kids. And for a year and a half, Flint residents had been drinking the poisoned water. They had been using it to cook and bathe too.

Within months, city, state, and federal officials all declared a state of emergency in Flint. Donations of money and bottled water poured in from around the country. But the damage had been done. Flint's nearly 100,000 residents had been exposed to alarming levels of lead. That included 8,000 kids under age 6. And 12 people had died from a disease linked to the tainted water.

Great Lakes: A chain of five freshwater lakes along the U.S.-Canada border. Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario have coastlines along eight states and make up the world's largest freshwater surface.

Lead: A durable metal long used for water pipes, dating as far back as ancient Rome. However, lead is toxic and can accumulate in the body, so water suppliers in the U.S. and other countries are phasing it out in plumbing work.

Great Lakes: A chain of five freshwater lakes along the U.S.-Canada border. Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario have coastlines along eight states and make up the world's largest freshwater surface.

Lead: A durable metal long used for water pipes, dating as far back as ancient Rome. However, lead is toxic and can accumulate in the body, so water suppliers in the U.S. and other countries are phasing it out in plumbing work.

SOURCE: Environmental Protection Agency

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Five years after their water became toxic, people in Flint, Michigan, still don't trust their taps-or officials.

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Quarter of Global Populations Lacks Access to Clean Water

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Quarter of Global Populations Lacks Access to Clean Water

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Quarter of global population lacks access to clean water

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Understand Goal 6: Clean Water and Sanitation (Secondary)

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A ‘thirsty’ AI boom could deepen Big Tech’s water crisis

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A ‘thirsty’ AI boom could deepen Big Tech’s water crisis

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A ‘thirsty’ AI boom could deepen Big Tech’s water crisis

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Where we get our fresh water - Christiana Z. Peppard

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Climate 101: Glaciers | National Geographic

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Glaciers are large, thick masses of ice that form on land when fallen snow gets compressed into ice over many centuries.