Multiple water source use in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review

Abstract

The Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) 2017 Update and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Baselines report classified 71% of the global population as having access to ‘safely managed’ drinking water. Current global monitoring efforts to track access to safely managed drinking water rely on collecting information on the ‘primary’ source of drinking water. However, there is evidence that households often rely on multiple sources to meet their water needs in many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). This systematic review was designed to compile the literature related to the practice of multiple water source use (MWSU) for drinking water in LMICs. A total of 5,318 studies were collected, and after abstract and full-text review, 74 articles were identified for inclusion. Studies reviewed reported from 4 to 100% of the study populations practicing MWSU. Additionally, the practice of supplemental unimproved source use was reported globally, representing households with improved primary source water also accessing unimproved water sources throughout the year. These findings expose gaps in current global water monitoring efforts, revealing potential inflation of reports of ‘safe drinking water access’ and unaccounted exposure to drinking water from unimproved sources.

Monitoring Drinking Water Quality in Nationally Representative Household Surveys in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Cross-Sectional Analysis of 27 Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys 2014–2020

“…Overall, 93% of samples were from the same category of water source, but concordance was lower for Kiribati (73%) and Chad (79%) (Table S3). Multiple source use has previously been documented ( Daly et al. 2021 ), including in the Pacific ( Elliott et al.…”

How Higher Education Institutions Walk Their Talk on the 2030 Agenda: A Systematic Literature Review

“…While there is a growing literature around the activities that universities are undertaking in this regard (Chankseliani and McCowan, 2021), few literature reviews synthesize these scholarly resources. Reviews of this topic have mostly focused on: business schools (García-Feijoo et al, 2020); a single nation (Owusu-Agyeman, 2020); a single university mission (e.g., teaching and not research) (Alonso-Garcia et al, 2019;Chiba et al, 2021;Weiss and Barth, 2019); specific SDGs and issues like safe drinking water (Daly et al, 2021), or as a component of Education for Sustainable Development (and specifically SDG 4.7) (Ferrer-Estévez and Chalmeta, 2021). 1 While they highlight important issues, 1 In more detail, some reviews have a narrow focus.…”

“…Similarly, Weiss and Barth (2019) scrutinized current research on the implementation of sustainability in curricula across countries. Lastly, Daly et al (2021) honed in on a particular sustainability issue-safe drinking water (SDG 6)-by tracking the research on multiple water source use for drinking water in low-and middle-income countries. To conclude, the recent literature review conducted by Ferrer-Estévez and Chalmeta (2021) adopted a broader focus by analyzing contributions that investigated the implementation of ESD and SDGs at different educational levels: from primary school to HEIs.…”

Modeling Exposure to Fecal Contamination in Drinking Water due to Multiple Water Source Use

“…Current global drinking water monitoring statistics are primarily informed by household surveys, asking households to describe their primary source of drinking water . However, a recent systematic review revealed that households across low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) practice multiple water source use (MWSU) . Households may use multiple drinking water sources for various reasons, including seasonal changes in availability, insufficiencies in supply or breakdown, aesthetics, financial cost, and physical distance to source .…”

“…However, a recent systematic review revealed that households across low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) practice multiple water source use (MWSU) . Households may use multiple drinking water sources for various reasons, including seasonal changes in availability, insufficiencies in supply or breakdown, aesthetics, financial cost, and physical distance to source . Daly et al also found that, in some cases, households in LMICs supplement an improved primary water source with unimproved water throughout the year, a practice referred to as “supplemental unimproved source use” (SUSU) .…”