Water Quantity

The indicator assesses the proportion of households with access to an adequate quantity of safe water for drinking, cooking and hygiene, as defined by the relevant standards (e.g. Sphere / cluster standards in emergencies, national standards in non-emergency contexts).

Collect the following data by conducting individual interviews with a representative sample of the household members responsible for water collection:

RECOMMENDED SURVEY QUESTIONS (Q) AND POSSIBLE ANSWERS (A)

(ask the following question only if you have not asked it in the previous sections of the questionnaire)

Q1: How many children and adults currently live in your household? 

A1: ............ record the number of children and adults

Q2: What container do you most commonly use for collecting and storing water?

A2 - record the container's volume: ............ litres

Q3: How many of such water containers do your household members use per day for drinking, cooking and hygiene?

A3: ............ record the number of containers 

(ask the following question only if you have not asked it earlier)

Q4: In this season, where do your household members collect water for drinking and cooking?

A4 Select one of the following:

1) tube well or borehole 

2) protected shallow well 

3) harvested rainwater 

4) piped water/public tap 

5) protected spring 

6) surface water source (river, stream, pond, puddles, unprotected spring) 

7) unprotected/ open shallow well

8) cart with small tank/drum

9) tanker-truck

10) other: ................................

NOTE: Only options 1 - 5 count as “safe water sources”.

To calculate the indicator's value:

- Divide the number of surveyed households that 1) are able to access at least 15 litres of water per person per day and 2) whose drinking water comes from safe water source(s) by the total number of surveyed households

- Multiply the resulting number by 100 to convert it to a percentage

- Multiply the percentage by the total number of the target households

- Multiply the result by the average household size, so that you end up with the “number of people with an adequate quantity of safe water for drinking, cooking and hygiene”

Disaggregate the data by gender.

1) The 15 litres per person per day is a commonly accepted minimum quantity promoted by Sphere Standards. According to Sphere, “… it might not suit all contexts or phases of a response. For example, it is not appropriate where people may be displaced for many years. In the acute phase of a drought, 7.5 litres per person per day may be appropriate for a short time. In an urban middle-income context, 50 litres per person per day may be the minimum acceptable amount to maintain health and dignity.” (read more in Sphere’s Water supply standard 2.1: Access and water quantity). If you need to adjust the standard (e.g. based on the recommendation of the national WASH cluster), amend the calculation of the indicator’s value accordingly.

2) Ensure that the data collectors count all the current members of the household, including people who are not regular household members, such as internally displaced persons.  

3) Ensure that the data collectors are familiar with the main types of water containers that the respondents use and that they know their capacity (number of litres).