Safe vs. Clean Water: Understanding the Difference

At The Water Project, we often get questions about what “safe” water actually means. After all, people sometimes think they can tell whether water is good for drinking just by looking at it. But the complicated truth is that the contaminants we need to worry about drinking are, in most cases, invisible to the naked eye, even if the water looks “clean” — which is why this distinction is important.

The terms “safe” water and “clean” water are often used interchangeably, creating confusion about what they actually mean. In this article, we’ll dive into the difference.

What is Safe Water?

Safe water may not always look clean. For example, murky water that has been filtered and treated can be safe to drink, while clear water might still be unsafe due to contamination by invisible toxins or microorganisms. 

“Safe is a term we use frequently when we’re talking about drinking water,” said The Water Project Program Manager Emma Kelly. “In fact, Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6.1 calls for universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water.”

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a set of 17 goals created by the United Nations to make the world a better place by 2030. They focus on big challenges like ending poverty, protecting the environment, and improving health, education, and equality. The Water Project works on SDG 6, which focuses on providing safe water and sanitation to everyone everywhere.

“Safe water is defined by the World Health Organization as free from fecal and priority chemical contamination,” Emma continued. “It is drinkable and ‘does not represent any significant risk to health over a lifetime of consumption, including different sensitivities that may occur between life stages.’ Because safe water is a term with a broadly accepted definition in the Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) sector, you will often hear The Water Project define our goals in terms of providing safe and reliable water sources.”

We determine the safety of the water we provide through rigorous quarterly testing and treatment processes and installing chlorine dispensers at every protected spring we build. We also vet each water source before we build anything to ensure there are no pre-existing water quality issues or potential sources of contamination nearby, such as latrines or farmland.

Health Implications of Unsafe Water

Drinking unsafe water can lead to severe health issues, including diarrhea, cholera, and other waterborne or water-related diseases. These issues disproportionately affect children, elderly, and vulnerable populations. Addressing these risks requires ensuring that water sources are not just clean, but tested and treated to be safe.

What Is Clean Water?

“Unlike safe water, there is not a single agreed-upon definition of clean water in the WASH sector,” Emma said. 

“Some people define clean water as water that is free from visible contaminants and odor (LifeWater), while others use clean to describe water that will not harm you when you come into contact with it (Healing Waters International). Because of these minor distinctions, some people choose to combine the terms when talking about their goals, opting to use safe and clean water to describe drinking water that achieves all of these standards – i.e. safe to drink, clear, and odorless.”

Solutions: Making Water Safe and Clean

As Emma said, The Water Project works to provide safe, reliable drinking water to people throughout our service areas. We do this by building systems that protect community water sources and shelter them from outside contamination, which is a drastic improvement over collecting water from natural sources like rivers and springs.

But education and community involvement are also critical for maintaining access to clean, safe water. After all, safe water that is collected in a dirty container, handled using unclean hands, or mixed with unsafe water will inevitably become contaminated.

At The Water Project, we train community members to understand the importance of safe water practices. We show them how diseases can be transferred via water and ways to circumvent these.

These approaches often work best in tandem, addressing both the visible and invisible threats to water quality.

Call to Action

The Water Project works tirelessly to bring safe, reliable water to communities in need. Your support makes this possible. Join us in ensuring that everyone has access to the water they need to thrive!

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