The cost of water

How much water do you need?

Worldwide, some 650 million people are without clean water and more than 2.3 billion people have no access to basic sanitation, says a new report.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends 50 liters of water per person per day as the ‘intermediate’ quantity needed to maintain health, hygiene and for all domestic uses.

But how much does 50 liters of water cost?

• Cost In Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea – 50l of water bought from a delivery service:
  £1.84 [54% of typical low daily salary for a snack stall-holder]
  [£1.00 (GBP) = $1.41 (USD) today.]

• In Antananarivo, Madagascar – from a tanker truck:
  £0.50 [45% of typical low daily salary for a factory worker]

• In Accra, Ghana – from a tanker truck:
  £0.45 [25% of typical low daily salary for a street food-seller]

In India it can cost up to a fifth of the daily wage to buy a day’s worth of water!

• In Maputo, Mozambique – from a street vendor:
  £0.09 [13% of typical low daily salary for a street food-seller]

• In London, UK – from an official piped supply:
  £0.07 [0.15% of typical low daily salary for a person on minimum wage]

Source: The State of the World’s Water 2016

WaterAid’s 2016 report