Poverty

The most obvious benefit of access to safe water and sanitation is a reduction in disease. But the economic position of poor families is often dramatically improved when they gain access to these basic services.

Water and sanitation are crucial for poverty reduction, as they impact upon so many areas of people's lives in the developing world including health, education and nutrition. There are also direct impacts upon people's finances - the most common of which include:

Impact on paid employment

Awa holds the soap she is now able to sell in Nafadji, Mali.

Credit: WaterAid / Sally Warren

Poor people, particularly women, are often unable to engage in paid work when they don't have safe water nearby. This is because they often spend hours each day trekking to the nearest water source, waiting their turn in long queues for water, or are too ill with water-related diseases to have the strength to work.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates 5.6 billion working days would be gained annually if there was universal access to safe water and sanitation.

In contrast, people living near safe water supplies can look after the water needs of their family in a matter of minutes, leaving the rest of the day free to earn much-needed cash.

People like 51 year old Awa from Nafadji in Mali has described how life has changed since WaterAid helped her community establish its own safe water supply:

"Before we spent all day fetching water. Now Nafadji women can go out first thing in the morning to go to market and sell things. Some women sell vegetables: aubergines, cabbages and tomatoes and some make soap to sell."

Awa is pictured above holding a home made soap ball which she will be able to sell for 250 francs (roughly $ 0.50).

When people have better health and more time through WaterAid projects households are able to improve their income in many different ways - including increased vegetable sales, farming or basket weaving.

Costs of healthcare

Uleftae Mundeo collects water from her village's only water source.

Credit: WaterAid / Caroline Irby

In countries without welfare states, poor families often have to spend high proportions of their income on doctors' fees and medicines. Having access to safe water supplies and latrines leads to a large reduction in water-related diseases and consequent falls in the amount spent on healthcare. This frees up income for other needs.

Young Ethiopian mother Uleftae Mundeo knows only too well how expensive it can be when your only source of water is a muddy pond:

"Most people here are sick from stomach diseases from drinking this. Most parents are very worried about their children, sometimes they will have to take one to the clinic in the morning and then another in the afternoon. But it costs around 20-50 birr ($2.50 - 6.25) and so often all of the money they earn from farming is spent on medicine."

In addition it is often women and girls who stay at home and look after their sick relatives - which also adds strain to their workload and further reduces the time available for other work.

Costs of buying water

Poor communities without access to water supplies, particularly in urban areas, often have no option but to spend money they can ill afford on buying water from expensive water vendors who can get their water from dubious sources.

Hasina no longer needs to buy water from market traders.

Credit: WaterAid / Abir Abdullah

Before gaining access to a WaterAid communal waterpoint, thirty year old Hasina from Dhaka, Bangladesh's capital city, regularly travelled across town to haul water home and paid dearly for the privilege:

''Before getting this sanitation block I used to be lucky to get a wash once every three days. I had to travel to the market and buy 20 litres of water for 1 taka ($0.01) which was even more money back then considering I had no regular income."

The community now contribute a small amount of money towards the running costs of the WaterAid project to ensure it lasts long in to the future and Hasina is paid a small wage to run the block and ensure it is clean.  

Conclusion

The World Bank has concluded that for every $1 invested in water projects you can expect returns of between $2 and $52 when all of the health, economic and social benefits are taken in to account. 

Investments in water and sanitation are essential for the wealth, as well as the health, of developing nations.

For more information download WaterAid's report Everyone's a Winner - the economic valuation of water ( PDF 443Kb)

Download the Water, Sanitation and Poverty Reduction issue sheet ( PDF 102K)