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Which is the best way to meet the Millennium Development Goal?

The United Nations has a goal of reducing by half the number of people without access to clean drinking water; but should the same water quality standards be applied everywhere?

The UN Millennium Development Goal on Sustainable Development includes the target of reducing by half the number of people without access to safe drinking water.

In Europe, the European Drinking Water Quality standards are the basis of individual countries own definitions of 'safe' (in the UK, the term used is 'wholesome'). The UK regulations are linked here. It can be expensive to treat water to meet these standards, which are based on detailed scientific knowledge, precautionary principles, wide safety margins and aesthetic requirements. The standards are also monitored by extensive sampling and analysis in sophisticated laboratories.

The World Health Organisation also defines the required standards for water and the approaches to be used.

Providing water that meets WHO or European Standards is expensive. Should a lower standard be applied in less economically developed countries?

Some examples of health problems that can arise from poor quality drinking water or poor management and monitoring of the quality are linked here:

Vote

Which is the best way to meet the Millennium Development Goal?

All people should have access to the highest quality of drinking water and governments or international agencies should pay the cost

High quality drinking water should be available everywhere for those who can pay for it

People should be provided with cheaper, poorer quality, water if that is all they can afford

We should recognise economic differences and set a basic, more affordable, safety standard as a worldwide minimum for 'safe' public water supplies (which could be used in your country too)