2026-07-12 · people
One in four lack safely managed drinking water
Pipes, treatment, and reliability — not just a nearby tap.
Out of 8.2 billion people, about 2.2 billion — one in four — drink water that is not safely managed: it may be contaminated, untreated, or simply unavailable when they need it. The other three in four get water that is piped or otherwise protected, treated, and available when needed. Closing that gap is one of the clearest measures of how far global water access still has to go.
1 cell = 8.2 million people (0.1% of world population) · 1,000 cells
Context
Safely managed water is the top rung on the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme's drinking water ladder: an improved source on premises, available when needed, and free from fecal and priority chemical contamination. A tap nearby isn't enough — the water must also be treated and reliably there.
The 27% in the second band covers everything short of that bar, from basic sources that may sit off-premises or fall short on reliability to unimproved sources and surface water. For these households, safe water at home is a daily uncertainty rather than an assumption.
Estimates come from the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme, which tracks household drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene as part of SDG monitoring; the figures shown reflect its 2026 household data.
WHO / UNICEF JMP drinking water.
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Credit this grid as Inagrid — https://inagrid.com/e/2026-07-12-water-access