Four billion lack clean water in 'underestimated' crisis

Machine learning-driven study suggests almost 250 million in Middle East and North Africa affected

Volunteers clean up a coastline after an oil spill in the Philippines. Contaminated water is a prime cause of disease and child mortality. AFP

More than four billion people do not have safe drinking water, according to a new study that suggests the scale of the health and poverty problem is twice as bad as feared.

Figures shared with The National suggest about 250 million people in the Middle East and North Africa do not use a safely managed water supply,

War-torn Sudan and Yemen are the region's worst-affected countries, with more than 60 per cent of people lacking clean water.

The machine-learning estimates suggest water scarcity has been "significantly underestimated", said Esther Greenwood of the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology.

UN agencies such as the World Health Organisation have previously used a figure of about two billion people lacking clean water.

But the new study uses Earth observation data and Unicef surveys to close an "information gap" in 135 middle and low-income countries, Ms Greenwood said.

It suggests the number of their citizens lacking safe drinking water is actually closer to 4.4 billion, more than half the world's population.

"The fact that so many people around the world do not have reasonable access to safe drinking water must give us pause for thought," said Martin Ackermann, the director of the Swiss institute.

"Long distances to the nearest water source and polluted water are the main reasons for much suffering and disease. This could be avoided."

Middle East and Africa

The study covers 16 countries in western Asia and northern Africa, including Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt and Morocco.

It measures how many people can access water on demand and close by that is free of contamination such as E coli bacteria or human waste.

The region as a whole fares better than India, China or sub-Saharan Africa, but there are alarming findings in several conflict-hit countries.

It estimates that 37.2 million people in Sudan – more than 80 per cent of the population – are without safe drinking water.

A US peace mediator this week warned of a "crisis of epic proportions" in Sudan as tens of millions of people face hunger or starvation during a civil war.

Almost 19 million people in Yemen, close to two thirds of the population, are estimated to lack clean drinking water after years of war.

More than half of Libya's population is affected, according to the study, as well as half of the 82 million people in Turkey.

Climate risks

Environmental changes, such as pollution and extreme heat, are also seen as a key factor behind the lack of clean water.

Natural stores of water are "faced with unprecedented threats in all regions owing to human and climate influences", says University of Oxford geographer Rob Hope in an article accompanying the study.

"This has increased costs to pump, treat and deliver water from distant sources to cities because local resources have been overexploited or polluted."

The study says contaminated water is a "major driver" of diarrhoea, which in turn is a prominent cause of child mortality.

It warns of knock-on effects for health, poverty and gender equality, as it is usually women who have to collect water from distant sources.

The figures do not include wealthier countries, such as the UAE, the US and most of Europe, but it is "likely that some" of their people also lack clean water, researchers say.

The study "shows how far away certain regions are from achieving universal access to safe drinking water", Ms Greenwood said.

"I think our study can help raise awareness about the state of drinking water services in low- and middle- income countries and suggest where data collection and financial investments are needed to improve the situation."

The study Mapping safe drinking water use in low and middle-income countries, by Esther Greenwood et al, is published in the journal Science.