Unaffordable and Undrinkable: Rethinking Urban Water Access in the Global South (Report)

Unaffordable and Undrinkable: Rethinking Urban Water Access in the Global South

Authors : Victoria A. Beard, Jillian Du, Diana Mitlin and David Satterthwaite

Projects : World Resources Report: Towards a More Equal City

In 2015, UNICEF and the World Health Organization reported that over 90% of the world’s population used improved drinking water sources. But new research suggests the indicators used by UNICEF/WHO grossly overestimated the state of water access, especially in cities of the global south. Analysis of 15 cities shows that vast segments of the urban population in the global south lack access to safe, reliable and affordable water. On average, almost half of all households in the studied cities lacked access to piped utility water.

The new analysis featured in this paper also illustrates that piped utility water is the least expensive option for most households. But reliability is crucial; among those households that were connected to piped water in the analyzed cities, most received intermittent service, which results in contaminated water. Households that are not connected rely on self-provision or private water vendors, which are up to 50 times more expensive than public water.

The paper argues that decades of attempts to increase the private sector’s role in water provision and to corporatize water utilities have not adequately improved access – especially for the urban under-served – and have led to issues of affordability and regularity/reliability being ignored.

The paper explores what cities can do to ensure more equitable access to safe, reliable and affordable water, while facing down major trends affecting water access, including population growth, degraded and depleted water sources, and climate change. It highlights four key action areas for cities to improve water access: extend the formal piped water network, address context-specific causes of intermittent water service, pursue diverse strategies to make water affordable with special considerations for low-income consumers, and support informal settlement upgrading.

This is the seventh thematic paper of WRI’s flagship World Resources Report (WRR), Towards a More Equal City , a series of research papers and case studies that examines whether providing equitable access to core urban services and infrastructure can help achieve more economically productive and environmentally sustainable cities. Visit citiesforall.org for more information.

Key Findings:

• Urban water provision is a social good, but one that will become increasingly difficult for cities and water utilities to provide due to climate change and population growth.
• Widely used global data underestimate the urban water crisis, which contributes to ineffective planning and management. New analysis of 15 cities in the global south show that piped utility water is the least expensive option for most households, yet almost half of all households lack access.
• Households without access to municipal water self-provide or purchase water from private sources, which costs up to 52 times as much as piped utility water. In 12 out of 15 cities analyzed, households connected to the municipal piped system received water intermittently, which compromises quality.
• Decades of attempts to increase the private sector’s role in water provision and corporatize water utilities have not adequately improved access, especially for the urban under-served. Cities and urban change agents should commit to providing equitable access to safe, reliable, and affordable water.
• Cities and water utilities should work together to extend the formal piped network, address intermittent water service, and make water more affordable. City governments should support strategies to upgrade informal settlements, which include improved access to water and sanitation services.

License : Creative Commons 4.0

Source: World Resources Institute

Media

Taxonomy

• Drinking Water Security
• Water Security
• Water Access
• Research
• Water Supply
• Water Security
• Water Security
• Water Supply
• Water Supply Commission
• Water Supply Design
• Rural Area Water Supply
• Paying Ability
• Economics Of Water Resources Projects
• Water Supply Protection