Over 20% of Sri Lankan household population lack basic drinking water facilities - survey

A recent survey carried out by the Department of Census and Statistics (DCS) on Household Drinking Water Quality has found that 20.3% of the household population in Sri Lanka lacked even basic drinking water facilities.

It has also been revealed that the main source of drinking water for 16.1% of the household population in the country were unprotected wells.

Furthermore, the key findings of the survey has revealed that only around one third of the household population, which is 33.4%, had access to a safely managed drinking water source located on the premises, consistently available whenever needed, and free from faecal (Ecoli) contamination.

Meanwhile, 2 in 3 (68.6%) people in the urban sector and nearly 1 in 4 (28.2%) people in the rural sector use safely managed drinking water sources, while only 3.1 % reported from the estate sector, as per the survey findings.

Additionally, the survey report reveals that it was revealed that 6.3% of the household population in Sri Lanka had not used at least basic sanitation service and that 0.1% of the household population islandwide still practised open defecation.

In the meantime, 88.7% of the household population lacked even a basic sanitation service and used a limited sanitation service, as per the survey findings.