Water access and daily life
For some households, obtaining water is as simple as opening a tap. Others must collect it from far away, pay extra, or store it because the supply is intermittent.
These differences affect everyday life. Limited water makes handwashing, utensil cleaning, and toilet hygiene harder. If quality is also compromised, health risks can increase.
Water access remains unequal
BPS data for 2025 show that 93.22% of Indonesian households had access to an improved drinking-water source. In Papua Pegunungan, the figure was 32.89%, illustrating a substantial regional gap.
In the same year, access reached 97.02% of urban households and 87.70% of rural households. These percentages describe households, not individuals, and do not mean that all water from these sources is ready to drink.
Understanding “improved” and “safely managed”
An improved source is a category offering better protection against contamination. Source classification alone does not establish the quality received by users.
Safely managed drinking-water services have additional requirements: an improved source on the premises, available when needed, and free from faecal and priority chemical contamination.
A well or piped connection therefore needs attention to water quality, continuity, and storage conditions.
How do water and sanitation affect health?
Contaminated water and poor sanitation can transmit diseases, including diarrhoea. Transmission can also occur through contaminated food, hands, and utensils.
Water shortages can make hygiene more difficult. Health protection requires safe water, sound sanitation, and hygienic behaviour together.
Itching and other skin symptoms require separate assessment. A change in water may justify checking the source, but a health professional should assess the cause of symptoms.
What is the connection with child growth?
Repeated diarrhoea can worsen a child's nutritional status. Undernourished children are also more vulnerable to diarrhoea, creating a cycle that can affect health and growth.
Stunting cannot be explained by water quality alone. Nutrition, maternal health before and during pregnancy, repeated infections, caregiving, and access to health services all matter.
Improving water, sanitation, and hygiene supports stunting prevention alongside nutrition and maternal and child health care. Installing water treatment alone does not guarantee prevention.
Simple steps to protect the family: 1. Consider every consumption use
Safe water is needed for drinking, cooking, ice, toothbrushing, and washing foods eaten raw. Also consider water used to prepare children's food.
2. Keep water clean after collection
Store water in clean, covered containers. Avoid putting dirty hands or utensils into them. Water can become recontaminated during storage and handling.
3. Wash hands with soap
Prioritise handwashing after toilet use, after cleaning a child who has defecated, and before preparing food or eating. Safe water, sanitation, and handwashing help reduce diarrhoea risk.
4. Maintain sanitation and the source surroundings
Use well-managed toilets. Investigate suspected wastewater or septic-tank leaks, and avoid disposing of waste or chemicals around water sources.
5. Match treatment to the water problem
Boiling can kill many microorganisms but does not make water containing hazardous chemicals safe. If chemical contamination is suspected, use a known safe alternative and seek guidance from the relevant authorities.
6. Check water when its source or condition changes
Changes in colour, odour, supply source, or nearby pollution should be followed up. Discuss testing with a laboratory or environmental health officer. Clear appearance alone does not establish safety.
7. Monitor children's health and growth
Use community health posts or health centres for growth monitoring. Seek medical help promptly if a child has diarrhoea with dehydration signs, difficulty drinking, marked weakness, or blood in the stool.
Expand access while protecting quality
Water services need to account for communities' ability to obtain, use, and maintain them over time.
Protected sources, sufficient supply, suitable treatment, clean storage, and regular checks complement one another. Community sustainability also requires clear management responsibilities and sanitation support.
Better water access gives families more opportunity to protect hygiene and health. Benefits are strengthened when water quality, nutrition, sanitation, and health services are addressed together.
Editorial note
Access figures use BPS 2025 data and describe the percentage of households. Access to an improved drinking-water source is not the same as a safely managed drinking-water service.
Questions for families and water-service managers
- ✓Is water available when needed and suitable for consumption?
- ✓How are containers, tanks, and use points kept clean?
- ✓Have source or quality changes been investigated?
- ✓Does the family have sanitation, growth monitoring, and health care access?
The ARS perspective
ARS assesses access alongside quality, supply continuity, storage, and intended use. Treatment is part of water safety; health benefits also require sanitation, hygienic behaviour, nutrition, and health services.
Official references
This material provides general education. It does not replace laboratory testing, applicable local requirements, or a professional assessment of a specific water system.