HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

An improved water source (or improved drinking-water source or improved water supply) is a term used to categorize certain types or levels of
water supply Water supply is the provision of water by public utilities, commercial organisations, community endeavors or by individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes. Public water supply systems are crucial to properly functioning societies. Thes ...
for monitoring purposes. It is defined as a type of water source that, by nature of its construction or through active intervention, is likely to be protected from outside contamination, in particular from contamination with
fecal matter Feces ( or faeces), known colloquially and in slang as poo and poop, are the solid or semi-solid remains of food that was not digested in the small intestine, and has been broken down by bacteria in the large intestine. Feces contain a relati ...
.WHO and UNICE
definitions of improved drinking-water source on the JMP website
, WHO, Geneva and UNICEF, New York, accessed on June 10, 2012
The term was coined by the Joint Monitoring Program (JMP) for Water Supply and Sanitation of
UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to c ...
and
WHO Who or WHO may refer to: * Who (pronoun), an interrogative or relative pronoun * Who?, one of the Five Ws in journalism * World Health Organization Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Who, a creature in the Dr. Seuss book ''Horton Hea ...
in 2002 to help monitor the progress towards Goal Number 7 of the
Millennium Development Goals The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were eight international development goals for the year 2015 that had been established following the Millennium Summit of the United Nations in 2000, following the adoption of the United Nations Millenniu ...
(MDGs). The opposite of "improved water source" has been termed "unimproved water source" in the JMP definitions. The same terms are used to monitor progress towards
Sustainable Development Goal 6 Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6 or Global Goal 6) is about "clean water and sanitation for all". It is one of 17 Sustainable Development Goals established by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015, the official wording is: "Ensure ...
(Target 6.1, Indicator 6.1.1) from 2015 onwards.WHO and UNICEF (2017
Progress on Drinking Water, Sanitation and Hygiene: 2017 Update and SDG Baselines
Geneva: World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), 2017
Here, they are a component of the definition for "safely managed drinking water service".


Definitions


During SDG period (2015 to 2030)

Indicator 6.1.1 of SDG 6 is "Proportion of population using safely managed drinking water services". The term "safely managed drinking water services" is defined as: "Drinking water from an improved water source that is located on premises, available when needed and free from fecal and priority chemical contamination". In 2017, the JMP defined a new term: "basic water service". This is defined as the drinking water coming from an improved source, and provided the collection time is not more than 30 minutes for a round trip. A lower level of service is now called "limited water service" which is the same as basic service but the collection time is longer than 30 minutes. Service levels are defined as (from lowest to highest):
Surface water Surface water is water located on top of land forming terrestrial (inland) waterbodies, and may also be referred to as ''blue water'', opposed to the seawater and waterbodies like the ocean. The vast majority of surface water is produced by pr ...
, unimproved, limited, basic, safely managed.


During MDG period (2000 until 2015)

To allow for international comparability of estimates for monitoring the
Millennium Development Goals The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were eight international development goals for the year 2015 that had been established following the Millennium Summit of the United Nations in 2000, following the adoption of the United Nations Millenniu ...
(MDGs), the
World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...
/
UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to c ...
Joint Monitoring Program (JMP) for Water Supply and Sanitation defines "improved" drinking water sources as follows: * Piped water into dwellingWHO and UNICE
types of improved drinking-water source on the JMP website
{{webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151003014620/http://www.wssinfo.org/definitions-methods/watsan-categories/ , date=2015-10-03 , WHO, Geneva and UNICEF, New York, accessed on June 10, 2012
* Piped water into yard/plot * Public tap/ standpipes * Tubewell/
boreholes A borehole is a narrow shaft bored in the ground, either vertically or horizontally. A borehole may be constructed for many different purposes, including the extraction of water ( drilled water well and tube well), other liquids (such as petro ...
* Protected dug wells * Protected springs (normally part of a spring supply) * Rainwater collection *
Bottled water Bottled water is drinking water (e.g., well water, distilled water, mineral water, or spring water) packaged in plastic or glass water bottles. Bottled water may be carbonated or not. Sizes range from small single serving bottles to large ca ...
, if the secondary source used by the household for cooking and personal hygiene is improved Water sources that are not considered as "improved" are: * Unprotected dug wells * Unprotected springs * Vendor provided water * Cart with small tank/drum * Bottled water, if the secondary source used by the household for cooking and personal hygiene is unimproved * Tanker-truck * Surface water


See also

*
Human right to water and sanitation The human right to water and sanitation (HRWS) is a principle stating that clean drinking water and sanitation are a universal human right because of their high importance in sustaining every person's life. It was recognized as a human right b ...


References

Water supply