Water Quality at Household Level

This indicator measures the proportion of the population that collects water for drinking, cooking, and hygiene solely from improved water sources A household is generally defined as one or more people living in shared space (a physical structure or compound) and sharing critical resources such as water, hygiene/sanitation facilities, or food preparation areas.

This indicator focuses only on water collected for drinking, cooking, and hygiene needs of household members. This excludes water collected for livestock, agriculture, gardening, construction, or other livelihood generating purposes.

An "improved source" is one which has the potential to deliver safe water by nature of its design and construction. Specifically for this indicator, an improved source is limited to: piped water; boreholes; tubewells; protected dug wells; protected springs; protected rainwater collection systems; packaged or delivered water; and emergency water treatment systems.

Method: quantitative, representative, population-based household survey

Calculation: The percent is derived by dividing the number of households surveyed collecting all water for drinking, cooking, and hygiene from improved sources by the total number of households surveyed. Both numerator and denominator are reported, as well as the percent.

Numerator: number of households surveyed collecting all water for drinking, cooking, and hygiene from improved sources

Denominator: number of households surveyed in the target population

Recommended survey questions

Where do you collect water for your household's drinking and cooking purposes? [add in response options relevant to the context to ensure you capture the type of water system]

Where do you collect water for your household's hygiene needs? {add in response options relevant to the context to ensure you capture the type of water system]