This article is about 8 years old

10 countries with the worst water supply

More than a quarter of the world’s population — about 2.1 billion people — lack access to clean water, according to a report released this week by the World Health Organization and UNICEF. Accessibility of drinking water, availability when needed and levels of contamination were used to assess water services. National data were available for about 100 countries in 2015, and these are the 10 with the least safely managed water supply.

10. Mexico Nearly three-quarters of people in Mexico drink packaged water, and the country is a world leader in consumption of bottled water per capita. This Aug. 22, 2016 photo shows Edgar Serralde’s kitchen, with a small table supporting a counter top water dispenser and drinking glasses, in Mexico City’s borough Xochimilco. Like roughly one million Mexico City residents, Serralde isn’t on the city’s water system. Instead of relying on water trucks Serralde built his one-bedroom house with an intentionally slanted roof, creating a makeshift rain harvesting system. (AP Photo/Nick Wagner)
(1/10)
Most beautiful Dzong of Bhutan
Fishing boats on the shore of Cape Coast, Ghana. (Getty Images/iStockphoto/nicolasdecorte)

Want to Know More?

Read about a program in Kenya that’s encouraging better sanitation, countries with the best public health care and check out more news, data and analysis on the U.S. News Best Countries site.

More from U.S. News

10 Countries With the Most Well-Developed Public Health Care Systems

Kenya and the New Science of Human Behavior

4 Experts Share Significant Climate Change Facts

10 Countries With the Worst Water Supply originally appeared on usnews.com

Log in to your WTOP account for notifications and alerts customized for you.

Sign up