Water utilities connect households, communities, and economies to drinking-water services, but coverage and infrastructure conditions vary widely. The following statistics distinguish service levels, withdrawals, projected needs, and population health estimates by geography and measurement period.
Key Water Utility Statistics
These figures summarize the most important global and U.S. measures:
- In 2022, 73% of the world population used safely managed drinking-water services, compared with 69% in 2015.
- In 2022, about 2.2 billion people worldwide lacked safely managed drinking water.
- In 2022, about 6 billion people worldwide used safely managed drinking-water services.
- In 2022, 1.5 billion people worldwide used basic drinking-water services, rather than safely managed services.
- In 2022, 292 million people worldwide used limited drinking-water services requiring more than 30 minutes to collect water.
- In 2022, 115 million people worldwide collected untreated surface water.
- From 2015 to 2022, rural safely managed drinking-water coverage worldwide rose from 56% to 62%.
- From 2015 to 2022, urban safely managed drinking-water coverage worldwide rose from 80% to 81%.
- In the 2022 assessment, 32 countries were on track for universal drinking-water coverage above 99% by 2030.
- In 2015, U.S. public-supply systems provided potable water to about 283 million residents.
- In 2015, 87% of the U.S. population received potable water from public-supply facilities.
- In 2015, U.S. total water withdrawals were 322 billion gallons per day.
- From 2010 to 2015, U.S. total water withdrawals fell 9%, from 354 to 322 billion gallons per day.
- In 2015, public-supply withdrawals were 39 billion gallons per day in the United States.
- The EPA’s 7th DWINSA estimated $625 billion in U.S. drinking-water infrastructure needs over 20 years.
- In the 7th DWINSA, distribution and transmission represented $422.9 billion of projected U.S. drinking-water need.
- The EPA projected 9.2 million U.S. lead service lines in its 2023 DWINSA FAQ.
- WHO estimated about 1 million deaths each year from diarrhoea associated with unsafe water, sanitation, and hand hygiene worldwide.
Contents
- Global water utility statistics: safely managed drinking-water coverage
- Water utility data on rural, urban, and regional service gaps
- U.S. water utility scale, public supply, and household access
- Water utility trends in withdrawals and demand
- Drinking-water utility infrastructure costs and distribution needs
- Water utility health outcomes, lead lines, and investment priorities
Global Water Utility Statistics: Safely Managed Drinking-Water Coverage
The WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) defines safely managed drinking water as an improved source on premises, available when needed, and free from faecal and priority chemical contamination. Its figures are modeled coverage estimates combining censuses, household surveys, administrative data, and trend lines, so they describe populations and service levels rather than a census of utilities.
Worldwide safely managed coverage increased from 69% in 2015 to 73% in 2022, while approximately 2.2 billion people remained without that service level. WHO’s rounded summary places the number using safely managed services at about 6 billion in 2022. (WHO/UNICEF JMP, 2023; WHO, Drinking-water)
| Global service level | 2022 population share or estimate | Definition or scope |
|---|---|---|
| Safely managed | 73% | Improved source on premises, available when needed, and free from specified contamination |
| Basic | 19% | Improved source within a 30-minute round trip |
| Limited | 4% | More than 30 minutes to collect water |
| Unimproved | 4% | JMP service-level category |
| Surface water | 1% | Untreated lakes, ponds, rivers, and streams |
The 19% basic-service share represented about 1.5 billion people in 2022, while 292 million people had limited services. These categories are not interchangeable with safely managed service and do not by themselves establish a household contamination rate. (WHO/UNICEF JMP, 2023; WHO, Drinking-water)
Water Utility Data on Rural, Urban, and Regional Service Gaps
Service access differs sharply between rural and urban populations. Rural safely managed coverage rose from 56% in 2015 to 62% in 2022, while urban coverage moved from 80% to 81% over the same period, according to JMP modeled estimates.
Regional comparisons from the same 2015–2022 period show varied progress:
| Geography | 2015 | 2022 | Measure |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sub-Saharan Africa | 27% | 31% | Safely managed coverage |
| Central and Southern Asia | 60% | 68% | Safely managed coverage |
| Eastern and South-Eastern Asia | 74% | 79% | Safely managed coverage |
| Northern Africa and Western Asia | 75% | 77% | Safely managed coverage |
| Fragile contexts | 42% | 46% | Safely managed coverage |
| Small Island Developing States | 56% | 56% | Safely managed coverage |
The unchanged rounded percentage for Small Island Developing States does not prove that every underlying country or household was unchanged. Regional aggregates also conceal differences in national coverage and data availability. (WHO/UNICEF JMP, 2023)
Other 2022 estimates identify the scale of lower service levels: 296 million people used unprotected wells and springs, and 115 million collected untreated surface water. The JMP assessment included safely managed estimates for 142 countries, classified 32 countries as on track for universal drinking-water coverage above 99% by 2030, and found 78 countries progressing too slowly toward universal safely managed coverage; coverage was decreasing in 16 countries.
The 2030 classifications are modeled projections, not completed outcomes. (WHO/UNICEF JMP, 2023; WHO, Drinking-water)
WHO also reported that more than 2 billion people lived in water-stressed countries in its 2023 reporting. Water stress is a classification of resource pressure, not the same as a utility service interruption. (WHO, Drinking-water)
U.S. Water Utility Scale, Public Supply, and Household Access
USGS national water-use estimates show the scale of public supply within the wider U.S. water system. In 2015, total water use was estimated at 322 billion gallons per day, including eight use categories, while public-supply withdrawals were 39 billion gallons per day.
Public-supply systems provided potable water to about 283 million residents, equal to 87% of the U.S. population in 2015. The population denominator increased from 312.6 million in 2010 to 325.0 million in 2015, and public-supply coverage rose from 86% to 87%; the percentage-point comparison uses rounded USGS values. (USGS, How much water is used by people in the United States?)
| U.S. public and domestic measure | 2015 estimate | Scope |
|---|---|---|
| Public-supply withdrawals | 39 billion gallons/day | Withdrawal/use category |
| Residents receiving public-supply potable water | About 283 million | U.S. residents |
| Population receiving public-supply potable water | 87% | Public-supply coverage |
| Self-supplied domestic withdrawals | 3.26 billion gallons/day | Domestic users outside public supply |
| Groundwater share of self-supplied domestic withdrawals | More than 98% | Source split |
Public-supply withdrawals represented 14% of all U.S. freshwater withdrawals in 2015, or 21% when thermoelectric power was excluded. These are withdrawal shares, not measures of delivered household volume or tap-water quality. (USGS, How much water is used by people in the United States?)
Water Utility Trends in Withdrawals and Demand
U.S. total water withdrawals fell 9% between 2010 and 2015, from 354 to 322 billion gallons per day. Public supply was one component of a national total dominated by several categories.
| 2015 U.S. withdrawal category | Billion gallons/day | Reported context |
|---|---|---|
| Thermoelectric power | 133 | Industrial power-use category |
| Irrigation | 118 | Agricultural irrigation |
| Public supply | 39 | Public-supply withdrawals |
| Self-supplied industrial | 14.8 | Excludes public-supply deliveries |
Irrigation, thermoelectric power, and public supply together accounted for 90% of U.S. withdrawals in 2015. Thermoelectric withdrawals declined by 28.8 billion gallons per day from 2010 to 2015, which USGS attributed to 89% of the total national decline. (USGS, How much water is used by people in the United States?)
Self-supplied industrial withdrawals were 14.8 billion gallons per day in 2015, 9% below 2010. The category fell from a 47-billion-gallon-per-day peak in 1970 and represented 5% of total U.S. withdrawals, or 8% excluding thermoelectric power.
These figures concern self-supplied industrial use, not water delivered by public utilities. (USGS, How much water is used by people in the United States?)
Drinking-Water Utility Infrastructure Costs and Distribution Needs
The EPA’s 7th Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey and Assessment estimated $625 billion in eligible U.S. drinking-water infrastructure needs over 20 years, using 2023 report values. This is a projected need, not money already spent or a guaranteed funding requirement, and it was 32% higher than the 6th DWINSA estimate of $472.6 billion; cross-survey scope and data may differ.
The survey covered 3,629 public water systems across all 50 states, Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories. Its category estimates show why distribution assets dominate the projected total:
| 7th DWINSA category | Projected 20-year need |
|---|---|
| Distribution and transmission | $422.9 billion |
| Treatment | $107 billion |
| Storage | $56.1 billion |
| Source infrastructure | $25.2 billion |
Distribution and transmission includes replacement or rehabilitation of pipelines and appurtenances. Treatment covers construction, expansion, or rehabilitation intended to reduce contamination; storage includes reservoirs and storage improvements; source infrastructure includes intakes, wells, and water-right purchases. (EPA, 7th Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey and Assessment; EPA, EPA’s 7th Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey and Assessment)
Water Utility Health Outcomes, Lead Lines, and Investment Priorities
Water-service statistics also connect infrastructure conditions with exposure risks, but the health figures below cover combined water, sanitation, hygiene, and disease-exposure pathways rather than the causal effect of a single utility or filtration product.
WHO’s 2023 fact sheet estimated about 1 million deaths each year from diarrhoea associated with unsafe drinking water, sanitation, and hand hygiene. It estimated that 395,000 deaths among children under 5 could be avoided each year if unsafe water, sanitation, and hygiene risks were addressed; in 2021, more than 251.4 million people required preventive treatment for schistosomiasis, a disease associated with exposure to infested water. (WHO, Drinking-water)
Lead-service-line estimates require careful dating. EPA’s 2023 DWINSA FAQ projected 9.2 million lead service lines nationally, while the later DWINSA results page, updated May 20, 2026, displayed a projection of 4.0 million; these are separate observations and should not be combined or treated as a completed inventory. (EPA, 7th Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey and Assessment; EPA, EPA’s 7th Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey and Assessment)
Broader clean-water investment data provide additional context, but they are not drinking-water-only measures. The 2022 Clean Watersheds Needs Survey reported $630.1 billion in total clean-water infrastructure needs for January 1, 2022, through December 31, 2041; EPA said the figure likely underestimates nationwide need and excludes Tribal wastewater needs.
- The 2022 CWNS reported that 44% of clean-water needs were documented using municipal or utility capital-improvement plans, which generally cover shorter horizons.
- Wastewater infrastructure represented about 55% of reported 2022–2041 clean-water needs, while stormwater represented 18%.
- New York and California each reported more than $50 billion in 2022 CWNS needs.
- Florida, Virginia, Louisiana, and Georgia each reported more than $25 billion in 2022 CWNS needs.
- Those six states together represented 42% of nationwide reported CWNS needs.
- Twenty-eight states each reported less than 1% of total 2022 CWNS needs, although a small national share can still represent substantial local costs.
CWNS is a broader, voluntary, non-statistical survey of clean-water infrastructure, so its totals should not be added to the 7th DWINSA drinking-water estimate. (EPA, 2022 Clean Watersheds Needs Survey Report to Congress)