What does sustainable access to safe drinking water & basic sanitation mean?
WHO and UNICEF provide the UN system’s monitoring of progress on MDG target 10. The JMP defines safe drinking water and basic sanitation as follows: • Drinking water is water used for domestic purposes, drinking, cooking and personal hygiene; • Access to drinking water means that the source is less than 1 kilometer away from its place of use and that it is possible to reliably obtain at least 20 litres per member of a household per day; • Safe drinking water is water with microbial, chemical and physical characteristics that meet WHO guidelines or national standards on drinking water quality; • Access to safe drinking water is the proportion of people using improved drinking water sources: household connection; public standpipe; borehole; protected dug well; protected spring; rainwater. Basic sanitation is the lowest-cost technology ensuring hygienic excreta and sullage disposal and a clean and healthful living environment both at home and in the neighborhood of users. Access to basic
