Realising rights through safe sanitation

Around half of all drinking water globally comes from groundwater, and a quarter of all water withdrawn for irrigation. Safely managed sanitation can protect groundwater and in turn the right to drinking water and to a healthy environment.

Groundwater and sanitation are intricately linked but out of sight – and hence too often out of mind. Where people do not have access to what we call ‘safely managed sanitation,’ or wastewater is inadequately treated, this risks polluting groundwater that is used for drinking water purposes. 

For World Toilet Day 2022, the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) has released a set of stories:

• Realising rights through safe sanitation
• 5 ways poorly managed sanitation affects groundwater
• How poorly managed sanitation can lead to polluted groundwater and environment
• Revisiting the Clean India Mission