Clean water and the choices communities make

In a village in southern Benin, the day begins with water. Before school, children walk to the pump with yellow jerrycans. The line is long. The pump squeaks. Someone says it broke last month for three weeks, and everyone went back to the river.

In a Cotonou neighbourhood, water comes from a tap — sometimes. When it doesn't, families buy water from a neighbour's tank or buy sachets of "pure water."

In both places, families make choices every day: Where do we get water? Is it safe? How much can we afford? How do we store it?

How do communities make choices about clean water — and what makes water solutions work for the long term?

The global picture

Water is life — and yet, safe water is still out of reach for many:

• The WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) reported that in 2022, about 2.2 billion people globally lacked safely managed drinking water.
• Sub-Saharan Africa has the lowest coverage of safely managed drinking water of any region.
• Women and girls do most of the water collection in households without water on premises, according to JMP data.

Unsafe water and poor sanitation contribute to diarrhoeal diseases, which remain a leading cause of death among young children in Africa.

About 2.2 billion people worldwide lacked safely managed drinking water services in 2022. (WHO/UNICEF JMP, 2023) In households without water at home, women and girls are responsible for collecting it in most cases. (JMP)

What is "safe" water?

The JMP uses a "ladder":

• Safely managed: water from an improved source, on premises, available when needed, and free from contamination.
• Basic: improved source within a 30-minute round trip.
• Limited: improved source but more than 30 minutes round trip.
• Unimproved: unprotected wells or springs.
• Surface water: rivers, lakes, ponds.

A key point: water can look clean and still contain germs. Clear doesn't mean safe.

Joke break: A child told his teacher that his family's water was safe "because we can see the fish, so they're clearly healthy." The teacher spent the next lesson explaining that fish living in the water is not a quality certificate.

The choices communities face

Boreholes with handpumps are common in rural Africa. They can provide safe groundwater if properly built and protected. Challenges: they break down, need spare parts and trained mechanics, and sometimes water contains natural contaminants (like fluoride or arsenic in some areas).

• Wells and boreholes

Piped systems bring water to taps in homes or public standpipes. Very convenient. Challenges: expensive to build, need reliable energy for pumps, and can be interrupted.

• Piped water and standpipes

Communities buy treated water at kiosks, often by the bucket or jerrycan. Challenges: cost, distance, and making sure kiosks are well managed.

• Water kiosks

Collecting rain from roofs in tanks. Challenges: seasonal, needs clean roofs, gutters and covered tanks.

• Rainwater harvesting

Very common in West African cities. Convenient and often seen as "safe." Challenges: cost over time, quality varies, and huge plastic waste. See The ideas helping African cities reduce waste.

• Sachet and bottled water

Boiling, chlorination, filters and solar disinfection (SODIS). Challenges: needs habits, supplies and knowledge.

• Household water treatment

Why so many water points break

A big lesson from decades of water projects: building a water point is only the beginning. Keeping it working is the real challenge.

The Rural Water Supply Network (RWSN) has reported that, at any given time, a significant share of handpumps in Sub-Saharan Africa are not working — estimates often cited are around one in four. The reasons:

• No money set aside for repairs.
• No trained local mechanic.
• Spare parts unavailable or too expensive.
• Unclear responsibility: "Who owns this pump?"
• Poor construction quality.

That's why many water experts now say: "Don't just build — plan for maintenance."

What makes water solutions last

Research and experience point to several success factors:

• Community ownership: A water committee with clear roles (including women, who use water most).
• Tariffs or contributions: Small regular payments build a repair fund.
• Local maintenance: Trained mechanics and available spare parts.
• Professional support: Local government or service providers who monitor and help with big repairs.
• Transparency: Clear records of money collected and spent.
• Water quality testing: Regular checks, not just when it's built.
• Protection: Fencing, drainage and hygiene around the water point.

These are the same principles that make any community project last — see What happens when a neighbourhood solves its own problem.

Women at the centre

Because women and girls usually collect and manage household water, they know the most about water problems. Yet they're often left out of water committees and decisions.

Projects that include women in leadership tend to have better outcomes — better maintenance, better hygiene and better use of water. When water is closer to home, girls also spend less time walking and more time in school.

"When the well is dry, we know the worth of water." — Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard's Almanack (1746)

Safe water at home

Even when water comes from a good source, it can become contaminated during transport and storage. Simple household practices help:

• Use clean containers with lids.
• Pour water out instead of dipping cups into containers.
• Keep water containers off the floor.
• Clean containers regularly.
• Treat water if unsure (boil, chlorinate, filter).
• Wash hands with soap, especially before eating and after using the toilet.

For a science club experiment on filtration, see How to make a science club work without a laboratory. (Remember: homemade filters make water clearer but don't necessarily make it safe to drink.)

Water in cities

In fast-growing African cities, water challenges include:

• Networks that don't reach new neighbourhoods.
• Intermittent supply.
• Informal vendors with variable prices and quality.
• Flooding that contaminates water sources.

Cities need investment in piped networks, but also smart local solutions: water kiosks, rainwater harvesting and protecting groundwater. See What a healthy city needs beyond hospitals.

The cost of water

Poor families often pay more per litre than rich families — because they buy water in small quantities from vendors, while richer households have piped connections with lower unit prices. This "poverty penalty" is common in many developing cities.

Fair, affordable water pricing is one of the most important — and difficult — choices cities and communities make.

How communities can decide wisely

When a community is choosing a water solution, ask:

• What sources are available (groundwater, rain, river, network)?
• Is the water safe? Has it been tested?
• Who will manage and maintain it?
• How will repairs be paid for?
• Are women involved in decisions?
• Will it work in the dry season?
• What will it cost per family per month?
• What happens if it breaks?

For a step-by-step approach to community decisions, see How young people can join local decisions.

An illustrative story: the water committee that kept the pump alive

In an illustrative village in the Couffo department, a new borehole was built by an NGO. Previous pumps in nearby villages had broken within two years, so this time the community did something different.

They elected a water committee of seven people — four of them women. Every household agreed to pay a small monthly contribution. The treasurer kept a notebook and read the balance aloud at each monthly meeting. A young man from the village was trained as a pump mechanic, and the committee bought a small kit of spare parts in advance.

When the pump broke in the third year, it was fixed in two days, paid from the repair fund. Neighbouring villages started asking how they did it.

The answer wasn't technology. It was organisation, transparency and planning for the day something would go wrong.

Sanitation: the other half of the story

Clean water isn't enough if sanitation is poor. When toilets are unsafe or absent, human waste can contaminate water sources, spreading disease. Handwashing with soap is also essential.

WHO and UNICEF promote "WASH" — Water, Sanitation and Hygiene — as a package. Communities that improve all three together see bigger health benefits. Schools are a great place to start: clean toilets, handwashing stations and hygiene education help children stay healthy and in class.

Joke break: A health educator asked a class why we wash hands after using the toilet. A boy answered, "So nobody knows where we've been." Close enough — the germs certainly shouldn't know.

Every drop is a choice

Clean water isn't only about pipes and pumps. It's about people: committees that meet, mechanics who repair, families who store water safely, women who lead, and governments that support.

The best water solution isn't the most expensive one. It's the one the community can keep working, year after year.

Keep reading: How community health workers reach families, How one small community action grows, and our Health & Well-being section.

Questions

How many people lack safe drinking water?

About 2.2 billion people globally lacked safely managed drinking water in 2022, according to WHO/UNICEF.

Why do water pumps break down in Africa?

Often because of missing repair funds, lack of trained mechanics, unavailable spare parts, unclear ownership and poor construction.

How can I make water safer at home?

Use clean covered containers, avoid dipping cups into stored water, and treat water by boiling, chlorination or suitable filters when unsure of its safety.