Access to Basic Drinking Water Services

"This indicator uses the JMP definition of a ""basic drinking water service"" ""Basic drinking water services"" are defined as improved sources or delivery points that by nature of their construction are protected from outside contamination, in particular from outside contamination with fecal matter AND where collection time is no more than 30 minutes for a roundtrip including queueing. Drinking water sources meeting these criteria include: Piped drinking water supply on premises Public tap/standpost; Tube well/borehole Protected dug well Protected spring Rainwater; and/or bottled water (when another basic service is used for handwashing, cooking or other basic personal hygiene purposes) All other services are considered to be ""unimproved"", and include: unprotected dug well, unprotected spring, cart with small tank/drum, tanker truck, surface water (river, dam, lake, pond, stream, canal, irrigation channel), and bottled water (unless basic services are being used for handwashing, cooking, and other basic personal hygiene purposes)"

All of the following criteria must be met for persons to be counted as "gaining access" to basic drinking water services as a result of the project:
1. The total collection time must be 30 minutes or less for a round trip (including wait time); given this definition, the number of people considered to have "gained access" to a basic service will be limited by the physical distance to the service from participants' dwellings, the amount of time typically spent queuing at the service, and the production capacity of the service
2. The service must be able to consistently (i.e. year round) produce 20 liters per day for each person counted as "gaining access". This amount is considered the daily minimum required to effectively meet a person's drinking, sanitation, and hygiene needs
3. The service is either newly established or was rehabilitated from a non-functional state as a result of the project
4. Persons counting forward the indicator must not have previously to the project had similar "access" to basic drinking water services, prior to the establishment or rehabiltation carried out by the project.
To estimate the count:
Upon completion of construction/rehabilitation of an improved water source, interview initial users of the water source regarding the "time to collect" in relationship to the distance to their dwelling, and water source production volume measurements. This information is used to estimate the maximum distance from the source where "time to collect" among potential users would likely be 30 minutes or under. The number of persons living within that radius of the source currently not using an improved drinking water supply source is the initial estimate of those "gaining access" to the source. This number might be further reduced, however, depending upon the measured production volume of the source in comparison to the 20 liters/person/day standard.

 

 

 If you prefer to use a household survey, please speak to one of Tearfund's Global WASH Specialists to discuss this further