Tap water safety in Ethiopia ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡น

๐Ÿ‘Ž In general, the water in Ethiopia is not safe to drink.

World Health Organization (WHO)

According to the WHO, tap water is safe for consumption for 14% of the country.

There is a divide between rural and urban areas, tap water is safe to drink in 38% of urban areas, while it's only safe to drink in 8% of rural areas.

Lonely Planet

Never drink tap water unless it has been boiled, filtered or chemically disinfected (such as with iodine tablets). Never drink from streams, rivers and lakes. Itโ€™s also best to avoid drinking from pumps and wells: some do bring pure water to the surface, but the presence of animals can still contaminate supplies.

Bottled water is available everywhere, though itโ€™s better for the environment if you treat/filter local water.

Centers for disease control and prevention (CDC)

According to the CDC tap water is generally not safe for consumption.

Numbeo

According to the Numbeo water drinkability and accessibility index, tap water has a score of 39.58 / 100 (100 being best).

Numbeo considers this score to be "Low"

Advantages of drinking (filtered) tap water

1 adult could save about 489$ per year in Ethiopia by drinking tap water instead of buying bottled water.

๐Ÿณ Drinking tap water would also help with reducing your plastic footprint and improve environmental pollution.

Explore places in Ethiopia

Like in most countries, water quality and accessibility differs from location to location, therefore it's the best to check the information available on that place.


Explore other countries in Africa