1.3 billion people do not have access to safe drinking water and about twice as many people do not posses basic sanitation. The poor in rural areas and city slums suffer especially from insufficient water supplies and wastewater treatment.

In many countries, the inadequate supply situation leads to economic stagnation or recession. The poor themselves point to the lack of access to water as one of the main causes of poverty and improved access to water as one of the main ways to alleviate it.